Japanese wheel mortar What is the Japanese word for a wheel mortar? This is a mortar that is shaped like a boat or a trough, and a wheel with a hole in it through which there is a wooden axle. The operator pushes the wheel back and forth in the trough to grind the material. It is used traditionally used to grind pharmaceuticals, herbs and food ingredients. It looks kind of like this: ![herb grinder](

That is {} in Japanese.

By the way, I've heard of {} but never known itself.