Historical term for a servant, especially a samurai's attendant in the Edo period.
In period dramas, a servant stands behind the samurai.
Edo-period term for a man of chivalrous spirit, often associated with the 侠客 (kyōkaku) subculture.
That man has the spirit of an Edo-period chivalrous man.
cubed tofu
Abbreviation of 奴豆腐 (やっこどうふ). Cold cubed tofu, often served with condiments.
See also: 奴豆腐
In summer, I like to eat cold cubed tofu with ginger on top.
footman-shaped kite
Abbreviation of 奴凧 (やっこだこ). A kite shaped like an Edo-period footman.
See also: 奴凧
Flying a footman-shaped kite at New Year's was a childhood pleasure.
Edo-period hairstyle
Abbreviation of 奴頭 (やっこあたま). A hairstyle worn by samurai's attendants in the Edo period.
See also: 奴頭
The hairstyle of the attendants depicted in ukiyo-e is distinctive.
enslavement (of a woman)
Edo-period punishment where a woman was enslaved for her own or her husband's crime.
In the Edo period, the wife of a criminal could be enslaved.
That guy is really an unpleasant jerk.
We cut the tofu into cubes and ate it cold.
I never want to talk to a guy like this again.
あいつ is the modern, casual equivalent of 奴 used as a rough third-person pronoun for someone not present.
Written the same as 奴 (やつ) but read やっこ, this refers to a servant or to diced tofu (奴豆腐), not to 'guy/thing'.
cold tofu; chilled tofu with toppings
footman-shaped kite
Edo-period hairstyle worn by samurai's attendants
machi-yakko; townsman vigilantes
low-ranking samurai (derogatory)
petty underling; small fry
he; she; him; her · samurai's attendant (in origami) · Edo-period popular song and dance
cubed tofu; cold tofu cubes
hatamoto-yakko; Edo-period samurai gangsters
Standard kanji spelling for this word.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the tofu sense.
The historical derivation is uncertain. The kanji 奴 originally meant 'servant' or 'slave', and the reading やっこ likely developed from a colloquial Edo-period term for a servant or attendant.
longnose butterflyfish; forcepsfish
person with an itobin hairstyle