柝き

noun

wooden clappers

Used in traditional Japanese theater (kabuki, bunraku) to signal the beginning or end of a performance. Also read as たく.

See also: 木

• 歌か舞ぶ伎きの舞ぶ台たいで柝きが打うたれると、観かん客きゃくは静しずかになった。

  When the wooden clappers were struck on the kabuki stage, the audience fell silent.