expression, godan verb (-gu)
to sew a fox's skin to the lion's; to mix incompatible things
Idiomatic expression meaning to combine things that do not go together, like grafting bamboo onto a tree. Often used to criticize an incongruous or forced combination.
彼の提案は木に竹を接ぐようなものだ。
His proposal is like grafting bamboo onto a tree—it just doesn't fit together.
Adjectival form used to describe something as incongruous or mismatched.
The literal meaning is 'to graft bamboo onto a tree'. Since bamboo is a grass, not a tree, the phrase metaphorically expresses an impossible or unnatural combination.