ト書き

Japanese

Kanji in this term
書
か > が Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [to̞ɡa̠kʲi]

Noun

ト書(が)き • (togaki) 

1. (theater) stage direction; elements of a script excluding characters’ lines of dialogue or monologue, especially those telling an actor what to do
   • 2007, Furomoto Taketoshi, Mienai mono o miru chikara: Keruto no yōsei no okurimono [The power to see the unseen: gift of the Celtic faeries], page 131:

     またト書(が)きでは廃(はい)屋(おく)の窓(まど)に灯(ひ)がともること、それが輝(かがや)きを増(ま)すこと、老(ろう)人(じん)と息(むす)子(こ)が巾(きん)着(ちゃく)を奪(うば)い合(あ)い、金(きん)が地(じ)面(めん)に散(ち)らばることがあり、科白(せりふ)の中(なか)にある蹄(ひづめ)の音(おと)もト書(が)きに加(くわ)えられる

     Mata togaki de wa haioku no mado ni hi ga tomoru koto, sore ga kagayaki o masu koto, rōjin to musuko ga kinchaku o ubaiai, kin ga jimen ni chirabaru koto ga ari, serifu no naka ni aru hizume no oto mo togaki ni kuwaerareru

     Further, the stage directions say there is a lamp lit in the window of the abandoned house, and it shines with increasing brilliance; the old man and his son scramble for the purse, and the money spills out on the ground; a stage direction indicates that the sound of hooves approaches during the speech

Usage notes

In scripts for kabuki or other traditional stage dramas, stage directions are written after lines of dialogue, beginning with the katakana character ト, as in 〈ト思い入れあって〉 (to: omoiire atte “with meditative affect”).