袋

• Reading: ふくろ
• Romaji: fukuro
• Kanji breakdown: 袋 (tai/fukuro) — bag, sack
• Pronunciation: /ɸɯ.kɯ.ɾo/

Meaning

Bag; sack. A container made of flexible material.

A general noun for bags and sacks of all kinds. Common compounds: ビニール袋 (biniiru bukuro, plastic bag), 紙袋 (kamibukuro, paper bag), 手袋 (tebukuro, gloves — literally hand bags), 袋小路 (fukuro kouji, dead end). When used in compounds, the reading often changes to ぶくろ due to rendaku (sequential voicing).

Examples

1. スーパーでレジ袋をもらうのにお金がかかる。 It costs money to get a plastic bag at the supermarket.
2. お土産を紙袋に入れて渡した。 I put the souvenirs in a paper bag and handed them over.
3. ゴミ袋を買い忘れたので明日買いに行く。 I forgot to buy trash bags, so I'll go buy some tomorrow.

Usage Guide

Context: shopping, daily life, storage

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

From Old Japanese. The kanji 袋 combines 衣 (clothing radical) and 代 (replace/generation), originally referring to a cloth container.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal