katuobusi wo ue ni hurikakeru.

It is read:

かつおぶし を うえ に ふりかける。

Word by word:

• 鰹節 = かつおぶし
• 上 = うえ
• 振りかける = ふりかける

In normal writing, it would usually appear without spaces:

鰹節を上に振りかける。

鰹節 means bonito flakes: dried, smoked, and shaved bonito fish, commonly used in Japanese cooking.

In this sentence, it is the thing being sprinkled. So grammatically, it is the direct object of the verb.

Because を marks the direct object: the thing that the action is being done to.

Here, the action is 振りかける (to sprinkle/shake over), and the thing being sprinkled is 鰹節.

So:

• 鰹節を = the bonito flakes as the thing you sprinkle

A useful way to think about it is:

• を = what you sprinkle
• に = where you sprinkle it

上 means top, upper part, or surface, and here it is read うえ.

So 上に means on top, onto the top, or onto the surface.

In this sentence, it does not mean upward in the sense of direction through the air. It means the flakes are being sprinkled onto the top of something.

The thing whose top we mean is omitted because it is understood from context.

For example, in a fuller sentence you might see:

• ご飯の上に鰹節を振りかける。
  Sprinkle bonito flakes on top of the rice.

Because に marks the target location of the action.

With verbs like 置く (put), 貼る (stick), 振りかける (sprinkle onto), に often shows the place where something ends up.

So in:

上に振りかける

the に shows the location the flakes are being sprinkled onto: onto the top.

振りかける is a compound verb that means to sprinkle, to shake over, or to scatter onto.

It is made from:

• 振る = to shake
• かける = to apply / pour / hang / throw onto, depending on context

Together, 振りかける gives the idea of shaking something small over a surface, which is very natural in cooking.

So it is more specific than just かける:

• ソースをかける = pour sauce on
• 鰹節を振りかける = sprinkle bonito flakes on top

Yes. They are closely related.

ふりかけ as a noun is the seasoning you sprinkle on rice. The noun comes from the same verb idea: something you shake/sprinkle over food.

So learners often remember 振りかける easily because of the familiar food word ふりかけ.

The dictionary form can be used in several natural ways:

• as a plain statement
• in recipe instructions
• in captions or short procedural descriptions

So this sentence could sound like:

• a recipe step
• a simple instruction
• a neutral description of what to do

Other possible versions would be:

• 鰹節を上に振りかけます。 = polite statement
• 鰹節を上に振りかけてください。 = please sprinkle bonito flakes on top

Yes, something is omitted.

Japanese often leaves out information that is clear from context. Here, the sentence tells you to sprinkle bonito flakes on top, but it does not explicitly say on top of what.

That missing noun could be something like:

• ご飯の上に = on top of rice
• 豆腐の上に = on top of tofu
• お好み焼きの上に = on top of okonomiyaki

So the full idea depends on the situation.

No, Japanese word order is somewhat flexible as long as the particles make the roles clear.

This sentence is:

鰹節を 上に 振りかける。

But if the thing being topped is stated, you could also say:

• ご飯の上に鰹節を振りかける。
• 鰹節をご飯の上に振りかける。

Both are natural. The particles を and に are what really show the grammar.

No. Standard Japanese is normally written without spaces.

So the usual written form is:

鰹節を上に振りかける。

Spaces are often added only in teaching materials to make the sentence easier for learners to read.