紺屋こうや

noun

dyer; dye house

Refers to a person or business that dyes cloth. Often appears in the proverb 紺屋の白袴 (the dyer's white hakama), meaning one is so busy with others' work that one neglects one's own affairs.

• 祖そ父ふは紺屋こうやを営いとなんでいた。

  My grandfather ran a dyeing business.

• 紺屋こうやの白袴しろばかまとはよく言いったものだ。

  It's just like the saying 'the dyer's white hakama'—too busy with others' work to take care of one's own.