因幡の白兎

Japanese

Kanji in this term
因	幡	白	兎
いん > いな Grade: 5 (ateji)	ばん > ば Jinmeiyō (ateji)	しろ Grade: 1	うさぎ Jinmeiyō
irregular		kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
因幡の素兎

Etymology

Old Japanese 稻羽之素菟 (Inaba no₂ Sirousagi). 因幡 (Inaba) +‎ の (no, genitive marker) +‎ 白兎 (shirousagi, “white/bare rabbit/hare”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ina̠ba̠ no̞ ɕiɾo̞ɯ̟ᵝsa̠ɡʲi]

Proper noun

因(いな)幡(ば)の白(しろ)兎(うさぎ) • (Inaba no Shirousagi) 

1. the Hare of Inaba (a hare who got stripped bare of its fur by 鰐 (wani, “crocodiles”), but saved by 大国主 (Ōkuninushi))