Definition needed!

[Robert Wetherelt]

Yo; I was able to pick up the 3rd "Lone Wolf & Cub" flick"Babycart to Hades" on saturday! I now have four of the six made! Anyway...in this 3rd installment theres a scene where these three Ronin, on the way to being hired, refer to themselves as "Watari-kashi". Can anyone out there tell me what exactly this term means?? I would be most appreciative

[takematsu]

The usual proviso that I don't actually speak Japanese, and we all know the hazards of dictionary-clinging translations--

Watari- Ferry
kashi- river-bank

SO it could be an idiomatic phrase along the lines of "Hey, we're in the fast lane now!" (We're embarking the ferry to employment!-- can't you see that at the bottom of an anime screen?)

[Steve Hubbell]

I don't know if this is right or not... bounty hunter or fighters for hire??
(I would look in my Lone Wolf and Cub books but they are all packed away currently...)

From Sanseido's New Concise Japanese English Dictionary...

WATARI - A timely rescue (help); a chance. jump at (a chance, an offer, etc.) come to an understanding (with); get in touch (with); contact (a person).

WATARIAU - cross swords (with); fight; argue (with).

KASHI - the lower limbs; legs

KASHI - an oak; oak.

KASHI - the words; the text.

KASHI - asphyxia; syncope. in a syncopic state.

KASHI - a riverbank; a riverside; a fish market.

KASHI - 75 degrees fahrenheit.

KASHI - Confectionary; sweets; etc...

KASHI - lending; (a) loan; a bill; a charge account

KASHI - give; grant; donate; imperial gift (grant, bounty).

Kashi as part of longer words seems to indicate for hire or rent i.e. Kashibot - boat for hire; a hired boat, kashiya - a house for rent, kashijidosha - a car for rent, etc.

[takematsu]

Hmmm---

WATARIAU - cross swords (with); fight; argue (with).
... KASHI as part of longer words seems to indicate for hire or rent i.e. Kashibot - boat for hire; a hired boat, kashiya - a house for rent

That looks pretty good in the context. Proof of the superiority of paper resources over the web! By the way, I find this:

KASHI - 75 degrees fahrenheit

baffling!-- indiginous Japanese temperature measuring system? Composed of the kanji for "tepid bath"? Hmmm, again.