also: はくへき
white plaster wall
Refers to a wall finished with white plaster, typical in traditional Japanese architecture.
In the old townscape, storehouses with white plaster walls stand in a row.
tofu; bean curd
Only with reading しらかべ
Slang or jargon for tofu, likening its appearance to a white plaster wall. Restricted to the reading しらかべ.
When I ordered 'shirakabe' at the izakaya, I got chilled tofu.
Standard kanji spelling for the common reading しらかべ.
Rare on'yomi reading; mostly encountered in historical or technical contexts.
Compound of 白 (しら, 'white') and 壁 (かべ, 'wall'). The tofu sense is a metaphorical extension based on visual similarity.