魚 #1

The Japanese consume an incredibly wide variety of fish. There are many kinds of fish I've had here that I have never tried anywhere else. In fact I'm often more familiar with the Japanese names for fish than I am the English. Time to rectify that. Here are a few varieties I ate just last night!

秋刀魚　- SANMA - saury. Note the kanji "Autumn/Blade/Fish". This fish is typically eaten in the autumn.

鱧　- HAMO - sea eel not to be confused with 鰻 (eel) though both are typically eaten in the summer. If you break up the kanji for 鱧 into its component parts you get さかな + ゆたか (豊) which means abundant or rich. The component parts for うなぎ (eel) are さかな +　まん / ばん / ながい (曼) which can mean wide or beautiful. This kanji is often found in Buddhist words such as 曼陀羅 - mandala.

鮪 - MAGURO - fine cuts of tuna. The kanji components here are さかな + ゆう / あ・る - to have or possess.

This next one I didn't eat last night but it has a curious idiom attached to it so I shall include it anyway:

鯖 - SABA - mackerel. Kanji components: さかな + あお - blue.

鯖を読む - SABA WO YOMU - to cheat or to lie. For example:

彼女は年を教えるのに鯖を読んだ。　~ She lied about her age.

Now I wonder how that idiom came about?