1.
bamboo pole
A long, straight section of bamboo used as a pole — for laundry, fishing, vaulting, or supporting plants. Often written 竹竿 with kanji.
竹ざおで洗濯物を干す。
To hang laundry on a bamboo pole.
長い竹ざおの先に釣り糸をつけた。
I attached fishing line to the end of a long bamboo pole.
昔は、庭に立てた竹ざおに布団をかけて日に当てたものだ。
In the old days, people would drape futons over bamboo poles in the yard to air them in the sun.
Compound of 竹 (bamboo) + 竿 (pole, rod). Note the rendaku: さお → ざお. Often written with the kanji 竹竿.
USAGE:
A traditional household and outdoor tool. Familiar Japanese sights: laundry hung on a 竹ざお stretched between two posts, the long pole used by the 竹ざお売り (itinerant bamboo-pole seller, whose distinctive call was once common in residential neighborhoods).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 竹ざおを立てる: to set up a bamboo pole
- 竹ざおにかける: to hang on a bamboo pole
- 釣り用の竹ざお: a bamboo fishing pole