professional male mourner; keener
Refers to a man hired to cry or wail at funerals, a practice seen in some traditional cultures. The term is specific and not widely used in everyday Japanese.
In old funerals, a professional male mourner was sometimes hired.
The role of the keener was to cry loudly on behalf of the bereaved family.
Standard kanji spelling for this term.
Variant spelling without okurigana; less common but still used.
Compound of 泣き (naki, 'crying') and 男 (otoko, 'man'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term directly describes a man who cries professionally at funerals.