茶番

Japanese

Kanji in this term
茶	番
ちゃ Grade: 2	ばん Grade: 2
kan'yōon

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡ɕa̠bã̠ɴ]

Noun

茶(ちゃ)番(ばん) • (chaban) 

1. one who serves tea to guests; a server
2. (historical) a type of short, improvised farcical skit popular in the 18th century

   Synonym: 茶番狂言 (chaban kyōgen)

3. a farce; (in negative connotation) a foolish performance; a transparent performance; (in humorous connotation) screwing around
   • 2010 December 12, chu-san [username], “‘Tonda chaban’ to wa dono yō o iu no desu ka [How do you use the phrase ‘terrible farce’?]”, in Chiebukuro‎^[1]:

     選(せん)挙(きょ)間(ま)近(ぢか)になると、どの政(せい)党(とう)も口(くち)を揃(そろ)えて「消(しょう)費(ひ)税(ぜい)据(すえ)置(お)き」なんて好(す)き勝(かっ)手(て)言(い)ってるけど、ただ政(せい)権(けん)握(にぎ)りたいだけで、全(まった)くとんだ茶(ちゃ)番(ばん)だよ！

     Senkyo majika ni naru to, dono seitō mo kuchi o soroete “shōhizei sueoki” nante suki katte itteru kedo, tada seiken nigiritai dake de, mattaku tonda chaban da yo!

     Before the election, all the parties were saying, “Defer the consumption tax,” but they just want to seize power. What a complete farce!

References

• “茶番”, 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”)‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Britannica Japan Co., Ltd., 2014