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As far as we know, there are three ways \u201csushi\u201d is written on sushi restaurant curtains in Japanese kanji characters: \u9ba8, \u9b93 and \u5bff\u53f8.<\/p>\n
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This is because various spellings are used by sushi restaurants throughout Japan.<\/p>\n
For example, in Hokkaido, \u201c\u9ba8\u201d is used. Next, in Tohoku, Akita and Yamagata use \u201c\u9ba8,\u201d Aomori, Iwate, and Fukushima use \u201c\u3059\u3057,\u201d and Miyagi uses \u201c\u5bff\u53f8.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Kanto, Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo, and Kanagawa use \u201c\u9ba8,\u201d Ibaraki and Chiba use \u201c\u3059\u3057,\u201d and Tochigi uses \u201c\u5bff\u53f8.\u201d The spellings vary by prefecture.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, among the 42 prefectures (excluding Nara, Wakayama, Kochi, Saga, and Okinawa), the most common spelling is \u201c\u9ba8\u201d with 20, followed by \u201c\u3059\u3057\u201d with 17, \u2018\u5bff\u53f8\u2019 with 4, and \u201c\u9b93\u201d with 1.<\/p>\n
Broadly, in the Kanto area \u9ba8 is generally used while \u9b93 is more common in Kansai. \u5bff\u53f8 is used commonly everywhere in Japan.<\/p>\n
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On the other hand, of the three, only \u9ba8 and \u9b93 are seen in ancient Chinese literature. \u9ba8 was seen as a dictionary entry as early as the 5th to 3rd centuries B.C., and it\u2019s origin is described as combining \u201cfish\u201d and \u201cshiokara\u201d (briny flavor) resulting in the term \u9ba8.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, in A.D. 1st to 2nd century dictionaries, “\u9b93” appeared, and is explained to depict \u201ca storage container for fish.\u201d Toward the end of the second century \u9b93 was used for the term \u201cnarezushi<\/a><\/span>\u201d.<\/p>\n But around the third century, the briny meaning of \u9ba8 and the term \u201cnarezushi*\u201d written as \u9b93 started to be used interchangeably. That is how the words were imported to Japan.<\/p>\n In Japan, the character \u201c\u9b93\u201d was often used in literature from the end of the Heian era to the end of the Edo era. Eventually the use of \u201c\u9ba8\u201d was revived during the Meiji era (for unknown reasons). It was a natural transition that Kanto came to use \u201c\u9ba8\u201d and Kansai came to use \u201c\u9b93\u201d.<\/p>\n Incidentally, the kanji “\u5bff\u53f8” was created from the phonetics. Its use for celebratory occasions<\/span> became commonplace throughout Japan.<\/p>\n *\u201dNarezushi (\u719f\u308c\u5bff\u53f8)\u201d is the primitive version of Japanese sushi. It means covering seafood with salt and then soaking in rice for a few years as a form of lactic acid fermentation, which brings out the acidity.<\/p>\n We hope this information will be helpful.<\/p>\n Revision date: May 31, 2025<\/p>\n Share this article<\/strong><\/p>\n
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