Translation guide
A device for blowing air, used to stoke fires or in musical instruments. The most common Japanese word is ふいご, but the specific term depends on the type and context.
A tool that expands and contracts to blow air, typically used to intensify a fire.
The standard word for bellows used in blacksmithing, traditional cooking, or heating. Can be written as 鞴 or 吹子, but ふいご is most common.
My grandfather used bellows to start the charcoal fire.
The blacksmith is raising the furnace temperature with bellows.
An alternative kanji spelling for ふいご, literally 'blowing child'. Less common but still understood.
Old bellows were made of wood and leather.
The kanji for ふいご, used in technical or historical contexts. Rarely used alone in modern writing.
These bellows are from the Edo period.
The part of a musical instrument that pumps air to produce sound.
Also used for musical instrument bellows, though sometimes specified as 楽器のふいご (がっきのふいご).
You produce sound by pushing and pulling the accordion's bellows.
Literally 'snake belly', refers to the pleated, expandable part of an accordion or similar instrument. Often used in compound words like 蛇腹楽器 (じゃばらがっき).
The accordion-like light-tight enclosure on a view camera.
The standard term for camera bellows. Often used in photography contexts.
Extend the bellows of the large-format camera to focus.
Describing something that expands and contracts rhythmically, like bellows.
Used metaphorically to describe breathing or mechanical motion.
His chest heaved violently like bellows.
For most everyday references to bellows (fireplace, forge, etc.), ふいご is the safest and most widely understood word. Use 蛇腹 for accordion or camera bellows.
アコーディオンの蛇腹が破れて修理に出した。
The accordion's bellows tore, so I sent it for repair.