1.
bamboo cutter; person who gathers bamboo
A person whose occupation is cutting and gathering bamboo. Almost always encountered today in the title of the classical tale 竹取物語 ('The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter').
竹取の翁。
The old bamboo cutter.
竹取物語を読んだ。
I read 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.'
竹取物語は、日本最古の物語とされている。
'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter' is considered the oldest narrative tale in Japan.
Compound of 竹 (bamboo) + 取り (taking, gathering; from the verb 取る).
CULTURAL CONTEXT:
In modern Japanese the word is almost never used in its literal occupational sense; it survives because of 竹取物語, a 10th-century tale in which an old bamboo cutter finds a tiny princess (かぐや姫) inside a glowing bamboo stalk. The story is widely taught in schools and adapted in film and anime.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 竹取物語: 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'
- 竹取の翁: the old bamboo cutter (the tale's protagonist)