Just recently a wonderful person in Japan gave us a Japanese cloth, which had lots of ‘fishy kanji’ printed on it – kanji as an art form. It reminded us of two Japanese tea cups we bought years ago, which also had lots of fishy Japanese kanji on them. We thought we should show you the meaning of some of these kanji: it’s modern Japanese art.
There are many different types of fish Japanese people consume. Sushi, sashimi, as well as other popular dishes use a wide variety of fish. It would be a long process to list on this page all the different types of fish that would be available in sushi and sashimi restaurants. This cloth will guide us a little. (fishy pictures from Wikipedia).
All the following kanji have the same left side (called hen), which is fish. When a Japanese person sees that hen, they know it has something to do with fish. Here we try to identify some of those fish, or fish parts that use that hen.
The right hand side of the kanji, tsukuri defines the meaning of the kanji as a whole.
Here are the more common ones:
Ayu is a type of freshwater or river fish that is traditionally caught using cormorants. The bird has a string/ring around its neck, so it cannot swallow the fish. The bird is used as a kind of ‘hunting pet’. Some thirty years ago we saw this style of traditional fishing just outside Kyoto. Here is a video clip someone made of a similar fishing experience.
Another name for ayu is trout.
paua パウア
The right-hand side tsukuri means ri, or advantage, profit. Why a particular tsukuri was chosen is not always so clear. It could have been because of ‘sound’, or it could have had something to do with the life cycle of the fish.
This tsukuri means AUTUMN.
Pilchards are often known as sardines.
鰻屋 うなぎや unagi-ya
うなぎレストラン unagi resutoran
eel restaurant
An unagi-resutoran, or eel restaurant, visit is an absolute treat!
Even this modest eating place, which is standing room only,
would produce the yummiest eel dishes.
The tsukuri of this kanji means leaf. The fish is as flat as and in the shape of a leaf.
The tsukuri of this kanji means balance/even and is pronounced hira. The fish is evenly balanced; it has two eyes on top and the left side looks like the right side. Me means eyes. Hirame is balanced eyes.
Donburi is a bowl of hot rice with delicacies on top; in this case maguro – tuna.
Interesting detail:
When maguro comes out of a tin, it is called ツナ tsuna (tuna).
ライトツナ raitotsuna light tuna
The kujira debate is an intense one. There is very little kujira being eaten these days. Older people tend to stick to their traditional diet. Younger people tend to prefer junk food. Whale is not really on their menu anymore. It is also a political debate and it must be remembered that it is easy to tell other people what to do. Usually the “the other people” don’t really appreciate that kind of helpfulness.
There are many, many more fishy kanji. Dozens, each fish has one! Most people don’t know them, so hiragana, or katakana is the norm. However, older people who like a little whimsical art and have a great tongue for fish do know them. If you want to become a sushi chef, you need to know them all as well. For now – enough fishiness!
Two last two kanji with fish show that there are still more possibilities: for instance, fisheries and fish scales. They also have the fish part in the kanji, so it is not always a fish. It could also be something to do with fish!
So there you have it. Lots of fish and lots of fish kanji – very artistic, don’t you think?
We just noticed that on the left tea cup the word katsuo is written かつを instead of かつお. That is interesting to us. And all this story from a cloth and a tea cup.
With gratitude to Mrs Takehana.
Lami Japan 
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