Thin metal sheet, especially gold or silver leaf used in decoration, crafts, or food.
金の箔を貼った屏風。
A folding screen covered with gold leaf.
料理に箔をあしらう。
Garnish the dish with foil.
Figurative use: the added value, dignity, or credibility that something or someone gains from an association, title, or appearance. Often in phrases like 箔が付く or 箔を付ける.
有名大学を出ると箔が付く。
Graduating from a prestigious university adds to one's prestige.
彼は肩書きで箔を付けようとしている。
He is trying to gain prestige through his title.
gold leaf; gold foil; beaten gold
foil stamping; hot stamping · gold tooling; gilt tooling
silver foil; silver leaf; beaten silver
impressed gold or silver foil on fabric · type of Noh costume
embroidery and foiling; traditional Japanese embroidery with gold/silver foil
Standard kanji spelling for both literal foil/leaf and figurative prestige.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the figurative sense.
The kanji 箔 originally referred to a bamboo screen or mat, and later came to denote thin metal sheets. The figurative sense of 'prestige' likely derives from the idea of adding a valuable outer layer.