(ちりがみ)

ちりがみ
noun
tissue paper; toilet paper
1. tissue paper; toilet paper
Thin, soft paper used for wiping or cleaning.
塵紙(ちりがみ)(はな)をかむ。
To blow your nose with tissue paper.
駅前(えきまえ)塵紙(ちりがみ)(くば)っていた。
They were handing out tissue packets in front of the station.
塵紙(ちりがみ)交換(こうかん)(くるま)()た。
The tissue exchange truck came.
Referring to trucks that exchange old newspapers for tissue paper.

Compound of (ちり) (dust) + (かみ) (paper). A somewhat old-fashioned word for tissue paper. In modern Japanese, ティッシュ is far more common in everyday speech.

SYNONYMS:

  • ティッシュ(ペーパー): tissue paper (most common today)
  • トイレットペーパー: toilet paper

CULTURAL NOTES:

  • 塵紙(ちりがみ)交換(こうかん): a once-common service where trucks drove through neighborhoods collecting old newspapers and exchanging them for tissue paper
  • In Japan, pocket tissues (ポケット(ぽけっと)ティッシュ) are often handed out free at train stations as advertising — a unique Japanese custom

The word 塵紙(ちりがみ) is still understood but sounds dated to younger speakers.

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