玉屋

Japanese

Kanji in this term
玉	屋
たま Grade: 1	や Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 玉 (tama, “bead”, also short for シャボン玉 (shabon-dama, “soap bubble”)) +‎ 屋 (ya, “store, shop; shopkeeper, seller”).[1][2][3] First appears in the 1500s.[1]

Pronunciation

Kun’yomi

(Tokyo) たまや [tàmáꜜyà] (Nakadaka – [2])[2]
IPA^(key): [ta̠ma̠ja̠]

Noun

玉(たま)屋(や) • (tamaya)

a store or person selling beads
a store or person selling bubbles

Proper noun

玉(たま)屋(や) • (Tamaya)

(historical) a popular manufacturer of fireworks in the first half of the 1800s (alluding to sellers of soap bubbles for the brief beauty of the fireworks)
(historical) during the Edo period, a red-light district in the north of modern-day Asakusa
(historical) a kabuki work including a dance about a seller of bubbles, first performed in 1832[4][5]

References

1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
“玉屋”, in ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典 (Buritanika Kokusai Dai Hyakka Jiten: Shō Kōmoku Jiten, “Encyclopædia Britannica International: Micropædia”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Britannica Japan Co., Ltd., 2014
“玉屋”, in 世界大百科事典第２版 (Sekai Dai-hyakka Jiten Dainihan, “Heibonsha World Encyclopedia Second Edition”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Heibonsha, 1998

[KDJ-1] 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

[DJR-2] 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJS-3] 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[4] “玉屋”, in ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典 (Buritanika Kokusai Dai Hyakka Jiten: Shō Kōmoku Jiten, “Encyclopædia Britannica International: Micropædia”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Britannica Japan Co., Ltd., 2014

[5] “玉屋”, in 世界大百科事典第２版 (Sekai Dai-hyakka Jiten Dainihan, “Heibonsha World Encyclopedia Second Edition”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Heibonsha, 1998