Japanese

Noun

不知火 ‎(hiragana しらぬい, romaji shiranui, historical hiragana しらぬひ)

1. a marine will o' the wisp, more specifically one seen off the coasts of Kyūshū in the Yatsushiro Sea or Ariake Sea

Usage notes

• The kanji is a form of ateji commonly employed in Old Japanese and kept in this word, where 不知 (more commonly read fuchi, "ignorance; not knowing") stands in for 知らぬ ‎(shiranu). For more information, see w:Old Japanese#Writing system

Synonyms

• 鬼火 (おにび) ‎(onibi)
• 狐火 (きつねび) ‎(kitsunebi)
• 狐日 (きつねび) ‎(kitsunebi)
• 陰火 (いんか) ‎(inka)
• 幽霊火 (ゆうれいび) ‎(yūreibi)
• 野火 (やか) ‎(yaka)

Derived terms

• 不知火海 (しらぬいかい) ‎(Shiranui Kai): alternate name for 八代海 ‎(Yatsushiro Kai, “Yatsushiro Sea”)
• 不知火型 (しらぬいがた) ‎(shiranuigata): one of the kata (routines) performed by a yokozuna (highest sumo rank) when entering the dohyō (the sumo ring)

See also

• Shiranui (Optical phenomenon) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 不知火 (妖怪) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja