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Meaning

time to face the music

The moment when someone who has long been doing wrong is finally caught and pays for it. By extension, the time to give something up and resign oneself to what must be done.

Example

遊び歩いていた彼も、年貢の納め時と観念して婚約した。

Even he, after years of running around, accepted that his time was up and got engaged.

Origin

The original meaning was the time to settle overdue nengu (annual land tax). From there it came to refer to a wrongdoer being caught and submitting to punishment. Today it is also used jokingly, for example when someone ends a carefree single life.

Sources