1.
goldfish bowl; small round glass tank for keeping a goldfish
A small, typically round or globular glass container for keeping a goldfish or two. The classic image is a clear glass sphere holding water, a goldfish, and perhaps a sprig of water plant — strongly associated with summer in Japan, when goldfish-scooping (金魚すくい) at festivals brings home small fish that need a temporary container.
金魚鉢を置く。
To set out a goldfish bowl.
祭りで取った金魚を金魚鉢に入れた。
I put the goldfish I caught at the festival into a goldfish bowl.
窓辺に置かれた金魚鉢が夏の光に涼しげに輝いていた。
The goldfish bowl placed by the window was sparkling refreshingly in the summer light.
2.
goldfish-bowl situation; a setting in which one is on constant display (figurative)
A figurative use, in expressions like 金魚鉢の中 ("inside a goldfish bowl"), describing a situation where one is fully visible and observed by everyone — for example, in a small workplace, public-figure life, or surveillance-heavy environment.
有名人の暮らしはまるで金魚鉢の中のようだ。
The lives of celebrities are like life in a goldfish bowl.
小さな町では誰もがお互いを知っていて、まるで金魚鉢の中で暮らしているようだ。
In a small town, everyone knows everyone else, and it's as if you're living inside a goldfish bowl.
オフィスのレイアウトがオープンで常に同僚の視線を感じる毎日は、まさに金魚鉢の中で働いているようなものだ。
Working day after day in an open office where you constantly feel your colleagues' gaze is exactly like working inside a goldfish bowl.
金魚鉢 is the standard Japanese word for a goldfish bowl — the classic round glass vessel — and also has a well-established figurative use.
FORMATION:
- 金魚 ("goldfish") + 鉢 ("bowl, basin, pot") → 金魚鉢
- The 鉢 component voices to {ばち} as the second element of a compound (rendaku).
LITERAL CONTEXT:
- Goldfish brought home from 金魚すくい (goldfish-scooping) at summer festivals are the prototypical inhabitants.
- Traditionally a round, sometimes hand-blown glass globe; modern versions include small rectangular tanks.
- A common motif in summertime Japanese imagery (haiku, illustration, advertising) and a classic 夏の季語 (summer seasonal word) by association.
FIGURATIVE USE — 金魚鉢の中:
- Describes a setting where one is constantly visible and observed: small communities, celebrity life, open-plan offices, surveillance-heavy workplaces.
- Often paired with まるで〜のようだ ("just like ~") for a similetic phrasing.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 金魚鉢に入れる: to put (a fish) into a goldfish bowl
- 金魚鉢を洗う: to clean the goldfish bowl
- 金魚鉢の中{のように}: like inside a goldfish bowl (figurative)
- ガラスの金魚鉢: a glass goldfish bowl
SIMILAR / RELATED TERMS:
- 水槽: aquarium, fish tank — the broader term covering rectangular tanks and serious aquariums; a 金魚鉢 is a small, typically round subset of 水槽
- 金魚: goldfish
- 金魚すくい: goldfish-scooping (a classic festival game)
- 鉢: bowl, basin, pot — the suffix component
- アクアリウム: aquarium (loanword) — used for hobbyist setups, modern and stylish in feel
USAGE NOTES:
- For serious fishkeeping (multiple fish, filtration, aeration), 水槽 is the appropriate word; 金魚鉢 is a small, often decorative container.
- The figurative phrase 金魚鉢の中 is well-understood by native speakers and has an evocative, slightly literary feel — useful when you want to depict pervasive observation or lack of privacy without sounding heavy-handed.