Which side is insufficient?Sourced
Japan · Japanese meaning
Yakubusoku can mean the role is too small
Japanese yakubusoku describes a part beneath an actor’s ability, and more generally a role too light for the person assigned it. It is not the basic sense of lacking the ability to perform the work. Reading only the element meaning insufficiency can reverse the judgement.
The shortfall belongs to the role rather than the talent.
Summary / translation: Unbubly · CC BY-SA 4.0
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役不足 · Wikimedia contributors
Adapted, summarized and translated from the source. Adapted text is also available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Reviewed: 2026-10-05