重箱

Japanese

Wikipedia ^ja

Kanji in this term
重	箱

Square jūbako with lid.

Hexagonal jūbako used to serve food.

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. Compound of 重ね (kasane, “a pile, a tier, a ply”) +‎ 箱 (hako, “a box”). The hako changes to bako due to rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi.
• IPA: /kasane bako/

Noun

重箱 (hiragana かさねばこ, romaji kasanebako)

1. Tiered boxes.

Etymology 2

Origin less clear. Chinese-derived on'yomi 重 (jū, “to stack”) + Old Japanese 箱 (hako, “box”). The hako changes to bako due to rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Jūbakoyomi.
• IPA: /dʑuː bako/

Noun

重箱 (hiragana じゅうばこ, romaji jūbako, historical hiragana ぢゅうばこ)

1. Tiered boxes for holding and presenting food, traditionally made of wood and often lacquered, coming in sets designed to stack two, three, or even more layers high. Often square, jūbako may also come in different shapes. A set usually comes with a lid for the top layer.

Idioms

• 重箱で味噌を擂る (じゅうばこでみそをする, ​jūbako de miso o suru): "grind miso in a jūbako" → not sweating the small stuff; excellent appearance, but inappropriate to the task at hand
• 重箱に鍋蓋 (じゅうばこになべぶた, ​jūbako ni nabebuta): "a pot-lid on a jūbako" → a square peg into a round hole
• 重箱に煮染め (じゅうばこににしめ, ​jūbako ni nishime): "boiled stew in a jūbako" → looks great on the outside, not so good on the inside: appearances can be deceiving
• 重箱の隅を杓子で払え (じゅうばこのすみをしゃくしではらえ, ​jūbako no sumi o shakushi de harae): "clear out the corners of a jūbako with a ladle" → see the forest for the trees, don't sweat the small stuff
• 重箱の隅を楊枝でほじくる (じゅうばこのすみをようじでほじくる, ​jūbako no sumi o yōji de hojikuru): "pick out the corners of a jūbako with a toothpick" → split hairs
• 重箱を擂り粉木で洗う (じゅうばこをすりこぎであらう, ​jūbako o surikogi de arau): "clean a jūbako with a pestle" → see the forest for the trees, don't sweat the small stuff

Derived terms

• 重箱読み (じゅうばこよみ, ​jūbakoyomi): A reading of a kanji compound, consisting of an on'yomi for the first kanji and a kun'yomi for the second kanji.
• 重箱面 (じゅうばこづら, ​jūbakozura): a square face