Obscure fish kanji. Can you read them?
I’ve gathered a collection of hard-to-read kanji for fish! How many can you read? The best-known fish kanji include things like 秋刀魚, 鮎, and 鮭.
I’m sure many of you recognized those right away.
But this article features difficult kanji.
Many of them are hard to read unless you know the origin of the characters or the fish’s ecology.
That said, some can be guessed with a flash of insight, so please give it a try.
Even kanji that are hard to memorize can stick once you learn their origins and meanings.
- Quiz on various kinds of fish
- A quiz of interesting obscure kanji: characters that look easy but are hard to read
- The world’s toughest! A collection of insanely hard-to-read kanji
- [For Seniors] Looks readable but you can't read it! Fish Kanji Quiz
- A quiz on how to read obscure kanji: words that become difficult when written in kanji.
- How many can you read? A quiz on difficult kanji for foods
- [Hard-to-Read Quiz] Single-character difficult kanji — including surprisingly simple ones!
- What animal is this kanji? A quiz on difficult animal kanji.
- One-character difficult kanji quiz: a multiple-choice (3 options) game to learn the readings of challenging kanji
- [Knowledge Expander!] A Three-Choice Quiz about Fish for Elementary School Students
- Can You Read These? Quiz on Kanji with Many Strokes
- The world’s fewest: A collection of one-stroke kanji. Learn them in a quiz format!
- [Interesting] Summary of Kanji Reading Quiz Questions
Obscure kanji for fish. Can you read them? (1–10)
stonefish
See the answer
scorpionfish
Scorpionfish are very tasty when you eat them. But as everyone knows, they aren’t exactly beautiful to look at. The kanji “虎魚” (literally “tiger fish”) seems to be an ateji, while the name okoze itself comes from “oko,” meaning ugly, and “ze,” meaning fish—so the name literally means “an ugly fish.” It’s a bit pitiful, isn’t it?
pufferfish
See the answer
pufferfish
The pufferfish, known as a poisonous fish and one that inflates. I hear it puffs up as a threat display, but it ends up looking kind of cute, doesn’t it? The kanji “河豚” literally means “river pig.” It’s said to have been named that because its swollen appearance resembled a pig.
ocean sunfish
See the answer
ocean sunfish
The ocean sunfish you often see at aquariums. It has a distinctive, unique appearance, but in fact it’s a very sensitive fish. It’s also sometimes written as “曼波魚.” The word “翻車” refers to a waterwheel, and it can also mean an overturned wheel. It might indeed resemble the shape of a sunfish.
anglerfish
See the answer
monkfish
In fact, anglerfish aren’t good at swimming. I’ve heard the kanji are ateji (phonetic characters). The fish radical was added to the characters for “peace” and “health,” inspired by the sound of ankō. There are various theories about the origin of the name, but it’s commonly said to come from angō, a dialect word for toad, which resembles it in appearance.
Japanese amberjack (yellowtail)
See the answer
gurnard
The gurnard, known for its distinctive appearance with large pectoral fins and also regarded as a high-end fish. The origin of its kanji is unclear, but as for the name “hōbō,” there’s a theory that it comes from the sound of its call produced using its swim bladder. Another way to write it in kanji is 「魴鮄」.