腹芸

Japanese

Kanji in this term
腹	芸
はら Grade: 6	げい Grade: 4
yutōyomi

Alternative spelling
腹藝 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Compound of 腹 (hara, “belly”) +‎ 芸 (gei, “performance, artistic skill”).

Noun

腹(はら)芸(げい) • (haragei) 

1. a technique used by actors to convey emotion without verbal speech or gesture
2. a performance carried out while standing on the belly of another person who is lying down
3. a performance made by drawing a face on one's abdomen and moving it by dancing to create funny expressions
4. going with one's gut, using one's intuition

Idioms

• 腹芸(はらげい)を見(み)せる (haragei o miseru): “to show one's intuition” → to be especially tactful or clever in handling a sensitive situation