Weather Words: 'When The Wind Blows, The Barrel-Makers Profit'

Today’s weather phrase takes us back to 16th-century Japan, and an old proverb that states Kaze ga fukeba, okeya ga moukaru, which literally translates to “when the wind blows, the barrel-makers profit.” This proverb is used to mean that something relatively innocent can have far-reaching and unanticipated consequences.

According to multiple sources, the proverb stems from the following unlikely (and almost certainly imaginary) chain of events. Ready? Here goes:

First, the wind blows, whirling up dust. This dust gets into peoples’ eyes, blinding a few of them. Many blind people in Japan made a living as musicians, and one instrument they used was a shamisen, which featured a cat skin soundbox. If there were a sudden demand for more shamisen, the proverb supposes, there would suddenly be fewer cats around. This would lead to an increase in rats and mice, creating demand for barrels to store food in, and, thus, a healthy profit for barrel-makers.

Senior writer Chris DeWeese edits Morning Brief, The Weather Channel’s newsletter.