Fish Weir Character

A river fish weir. A weir is a barrier in flowing water that guides fish onto a slatted platform or into a trap. In Japanese, 簗 is read yana (やな); it names the device and the fishing method, including 簗漁 (weir fishing), often for ayu, a sweetfish. The method is described in the Nihon Shoki, a Japanese chronicle, by 720 and glossed in the Wamyō Ruijushō, an early Japanese dictionary, c. 934.

In the Chinese Zhouli, an ancient book on ritual and government, 梁 also names a fish weir. Japanese 簗 is a kokuji—a character made in Japan—formed by adding the bamboo element 竹 to 梁. A place-name record uses 簗瀬 in 1067. Medieval and early-modern records show weirs could carry exclusive fishing rights, tribute, and restrictions.

What does it mean when someone sends 簗?

A literal fishing term or name. If someone sends 簗 alone, read it literally as “fish weir”; nearby words or a name tell whether it refers to the structure, fishing, a place, or a person. A 2016 cultural-heritage record describes Ibigawa's 簗掛け, a local method in which bamboo, stones, and the river's flow guide ayu onto a slatted surface. It says the weir is rebuilt each July and used from August to mid-October. In modern Japanese, 簗 also remains in fishing terms, place names, and surnames; Chinese sources use 魚梁 for the related device.