I agree. A translated idiom doesn't sound right. Many countries do this though: in China they create their own idioms in English, such as 'come to play' (means 'visit'). This may be a translation, but I'm not sure.
My question asks about metaphors. Sometimes, metaphors are similar in each language, like the example I gave (crawl into a hole), so I was wondering whether Japanese people would prefer this type of idiom.
Regards