baleen

Daily craftsmanship / Quality Japan toothbrushes gain atourists’ favor

By Miki Yabuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Daily necessities made in Japan are once again being recognized nationwide and overseas. Quality and ease of use are factors fussed over not only by Japanese these days, as many of these items are also popular among foreign tourists as souvenirs. Yomiuri Shimbun reporters visited production sites that put less emphasis on price competition. This is the first installment of a six-part series.

In the twinkle of an eye, a bristling device inserted bundles of bristles into toothbrushes. It takes just seven seconds to plant all the bundles.

中略

According to the all-Japan cooperative association of brush manufacturers, the first Japanese toothbrushes were made by inserting horsehair into handles of baleen and sold in the Meiji era in Osaka as “whale toothpicks.”

The term “haburashi,” as toothbrushes are known in Japan today, was first used at the National Industrial Exhibition in 1890.

以下省略

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002944169

本日取り上げる単語は “baleen” です。

『新英和大辞典』(第五版, 研究社)によると, “baleen” は「(動物)鯨鬚, くじらひげ( whalebone )」と記されていました。

Merriam-Webster.comには “a horny keratinous substance found in two rows transverse plates which hang down from the upper jaws of baleen whales” と定義されています。

そこで, くじらひげをインターネットで検索したところ, 繊維が櫛の歯のように並び, 板状に生えている画像を確認できました。その様子は歯ブラシによく似ています。

今回は “inserting horsehair into handles of baleen” という表現から, 「馬の毛をくじらひげのように結束させ, 歯ブラシとして利用していた」ということがわかります。(Cayu)