Fish-name character

It names fish, but which fish depends on the language. Japanese dictionaries list はや/はえ for freshwater fish and わかさぎ (wakasagi), a small smelt. Chinese dictionaries define 鰙 as a flatfish-like fish; its Mandarin reading is ruò, roughly “rwaw” with the voice falling.

Japanese sources classify 鰙 as a kokuji—a kanji coined in Japan—for native fish names. medieval and early-modern lexicons preserve はえ/はや readings; a Song-era Chinese source links 鰙 with 篛 in a description of a flatfish-like fish. These records show separate naming traditions, not one shared fish name.

Is 鰙 Japanese or Chinese?

Both traditions record it, with different fish meanings.

The Japanese fish name わかさぎ can also be written 公魚 or 若鷺. A shogunal-tribute tradition—an offering to Japan’s military ruler—connects 公魚 with fish from Lake Kasumigaura. In Chinese, use the Chinese dictionary sense rather than carrying over the Japanese reading.

Why does 鰙 look different?

A variation selector can request a different glyph shape. Japan’s Moji_Joho collection registers a second glyph form selected with an ideographic variation sequence (IVS): the base character followed by selector E0102. The visible result depends on font/app combinations that support IVS.

Typing it can be harder: JIS X 0213 places 鰙 at the fourth level, so a Japanese IME may omit it from its candidates. Try わかさぎ or はや; candidate coverage depends on the dictionary.