枯れ木も山の賑わい
(Kareki mo yama no nigiwai; “Even a dead tree adds life to a mountain”)

Definition:

Even something boring or drab is better than nothing at all. Even dead, withered trees give more “life” to a mountainside than if it were bare. This is most commonly used as a self-deprecating expression by someone relatively old joining a group of younger, more energetic people for some activity.

Breakdown:

We begin with the verb 枯れる (kareru), “to wither,” “to die,” in prenominal form, attached to and modifying the noun 木 (ki), “tree.” This is followed by the particle も (mo), commonly “also” but in this case “even.” Next comes the noun 山 (yama), “mountain,” and finally the verb 賑わう (nigiwau), “to be bustling,” “to flourish.” It appears in conjunctive form, which allows it to act as a noun, and the particle の (no) shows that this noun is associated with or possessed by the mountain.

Notes:

Variations on this phrase may replace “withered” with “bent” (歪み, yugami), the mountain with a forest (森, mori), or the liveliness with decoration (飾り, kazari).

Example sentence:

「あのおじいさんがうちのサークルに入った時は、彼、枯れ木も山の賑わいなんて言ってたけど、びっくりするほど上手く歌えるね」

(“Ano ojiisan ga uchi no saakuru ni haitta toki ha, kare, kareki mo yama no nigiwai nante iiteta kedo, bikkuri suru hodo umaku utaeru ne.”)

[“When that old man joined our club he was saying stuff like ‘Even an old fart like me might brighten things up a bit,’ but it turns out he can sing surprisingly well.”]