Sardine character

It names a sardine or a similar fish. In Japanese, 鰮 is read いわし (iwashi), the word for sardines; Mandarin reads it wēn, roughly “uen” on a high, level tone, for sardine-like fish. Early Japanese records used characters for their sounds to write いわし, rather than using 鰮 as its spelling.

Why are 鰮, 鰛, and 鰯 all used?

They are different spellings of the Japanese fish name. In 1712, 和漢三才図会, an illustrated Japanese encyclopedia, marked 鰯 as a popular form while using 鰛 in its explanatory text. An Edo-period fish illustration also labels a sardine as 鰮魚. These records show competing ways to write the Japanese fish name, not a single fixed spelling.

Historically, iwashi was eaten, pressed for oil, and dried into fertilizer. The Japanese word also appears in 赤鰯, a term for a rusty sword; that meaning belongs to the expression, not ordinary standalone 鰮.

How should I read 鰮 in a message?

Use the message’s language to choose its reading. Japanese uses the fish name いわし; Mandarin reads 鰮 as wēn. Alone, the character identifies a fish word but not the sender’s intended language. Fonts can change its drawn details; 鰛 and 鰯 are different written characters.