noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
knee-to-knee; face-to-face
Describes sitting so close that knees touch, implying an intimate or confrontational face-to-face setting. Often used in phrases like 膝詰めで話す or 膝詰め談判.
彼と膝詰めで話し合った。
I talked with him face-to-face, sitting knee-to-knee.
膝詰めの交渉が続いた。
The knee-to-knee negotiations continued.
差し向かい also means sitting face-to-face, but without the nuance of knees touching; it simply means sitting opposite each other.
Compound of 膝 (hiza, 'knee') and 詰め (zume, from 詰める 'to pack closely'), literally 'knee-packing'.