noun
literary composition crammed with allusions; poetry composed by arraying reference books
Refers to a style of writing or poetry that is heavily laden with classical allusions, maxims, and references, as if the writer surrounded themselves with source materials like an otter lining up fish. Often associated with the poet Masaoka Shiki, who used 獺祭書屋 as a pen name.
彼の論文は獺祭の趣があり、古今東西の文献が引用されている。
His paper has the flavor of 獺祭, citing works from all ages and countries.
noun
otters lining up fish on a riverbank; making offerings of fish
Original meaning: the behavior of otters arranging caught fish in a row, which was likened to a ritual offering. Now mostly encountered in classical contexts or as the etymological basis for sense 1.
「獺祭」の原義は、カワウソが捕った魚を岸に並べる習性を祭りに見立てたものだ。
The original meaning of 獺祭 is likening the otter's habit of lining up caught fish on the bank to a ritual offering.
Pen name of Masaoka Shiki, literally 'Otter Festival Bookshop', directly referencing the literary sense of 獺祭.
From the behavior of otters (獺) lining up fish as if making an offering (祭). The literary sense derives from the image of a writer surrounded by many reference books, like an otter with its catch.