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波打ち際 (namiuchigiwa) Japanese meaning: water's edge | Kotomora

波なみ打うち際ぎわ

な

み

う

ち

ぎ

わ

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

1

water's edge; beach; foreshore

Refers to the strip of shore where waves wash up; often used in descriptive or literary contexts.

波なみ打うち際ぎわを裸足はだしで歩あるくのが好

す

き

だ

。

I like walking barefoot along the water's edge.

波なみ打うち際ぎわに貝かい殻がらがたくさん落おちていた。

Many shells had washed up on the foreshore.

Kanji

波waves, billows, Poland
打strike, hit, knock
際occasion, side, edge

Related words

渚なぎさN1
波打ち際 describes the exact line where waves break on the shore, while 渚 is a broader, more poetic word for the water's edge.

Built from

波なみ打うつ+際きわ

Written forms

波なみ打うち際ぎわ
Standard kanji spelling; high frequency in news and general use.
波なみ打うち際ぎわ
Variant without okurigana ち; less common but still encountered.

Etymology

Compound of 波打ち (namiuchi, 'wave breaking') + 際 (giwa, 'edge, verge'). The reading なみうちぎわ is a straightforward combination of its parts.