It is made from:
So 火起こし literally has the sense of fire-starting.
This kind of noun is very common in Japanese: a verb stem or related form combines with another element to make a noun describing an activity.
You may also see the related verb expression:
So:
This is one of the standard special pronunciations in Japanese particles.
When は is used as the topic particle, it is pronounced わ.
So:
This only applies when は is being used as a particle. In other words, the spelling stays the same, but the pronunciation changes.
Both can appear in similar sentences, but they give different nuance.
This sounds like a general statement about the topic.
If you said:
that would sound more like It is fire-starting that is difficult or Fire-starting is the difficult part, depending on context.
Very roughly:
For a simple standalone statement like this, は is very natural.
難しい（むずかしい） is an i-adjective.
That means it ends in -い and can function directly as a predicate:
So in this sentence:
Japanese does not need a separate word for is in this plain-style sentence.
In Japanese, adjectives like 難しい can end the sentence by themselves.
So:
already means:
You do not need a separate is the way you do in English.
If you want to make it more polite, you can add です:
That still means the same thing, but in a more polite style.
It is in the plain style:
A polite version would be:
Both mean the same thing. The difference is tone:
The plain version is common in writing, casual speech, explanations, and dictionary-style examples.
Yes. That is a very natural alternative.
This version uses the verb phrase:
and then turns it into something noun-like with の:
Compared with 火起こしは難しい, this version may feel a little more explicitly verbal, while 火起こし is a compact noun meaning fire-starting.
Both are natural.
It depends on context.
火起こし often suggests getting a fire going, especially in practical situations such as:
In some contexts, it can feel more hands-on than simply lighting something with a switch or lighter.
So while the exact English translation may vary, fire-starting is often the safest broad translation.
The spaces are usually just for learners.
Normal Japanese writing would usually be:
火起こしは難しい。
Japanese normally does not use spaces between words the way English does.
So the spaced version is just there to make the structure easier to see:
Yes, は can sometimes carry a contrastive feeling.
So depending on context, 火起こしは難しい could mean:
For example, if someone is talking about survival skills, this could imply:
However, without special context, the most natural reading is just the neutral one: