Iwashi (Japanese sardine)

It names the Japanese fish called iwashi. Read いわし as “iwashi”; English usually calls it a sardine. A wooden tablet from Heijō Palace, the imperial palace in Nara, records dried iwashi as an offering around 756.

鰯 is usually classed as a Japanese-made character, or kokuji, in the kanji writing system. Its shape is commonly explained as 魚 (“fish”) plus 弱 (“weak”), though the exact etymology is debated. An early eighteenth-century Japanese encyclopedia describes iwashi as food, lamp oil, and field fertilizer.

In Japan, Setsubun marks the seasonal turn to spring. Early-modern Japanese texts describe sardine heads fixed to holly as a doorway charm against bad luck. In 鰯の頭も信心から, a proverb about faith, even a sardine’s head can become worthy of reverence. By itself, 鰯 remains the fish’s name.