How to Write 鮨 (yì) — Meaning “Sushi / Grouper”

Imagine a fish (左边 魚) that is so fresh and delicious that it can be eaten raw as sushi, and the right side 旨 looks like a little sign saying 'tasty' above a sun (日). Picture a sushi chef holding up a fish with a 'tasty' stamp on it — that helps you remember 鮨 means sushi or grouper.

The left side 魚 has many horizontal strokes (especially in the middle section) that should be evenly spaced and not too long; the bottom four-dot pattern (灬) is actually a fire radical, so write it as four small dots. The right side 旨 has a narrow top part (匕) and a wider bottom (日), so be careful not to make the right side too tall or unbalanced — a common mistake is to write the 日 too big.

The word 鮨店 (yì diàn) means a sushi restaurant, often used in names of high-end Japanese eateries in China. 鮨鱼 (yì yú) refers to a type of sushi fish or sometimes the grouper itself, though it is not common in daily speech. You may also see 寿司鮨 (shòu sī yì) as a rare double-reference to sushi, but most people simply say 寿司.

In modern Chinese, 鮨 is very rare and almost exclusively appears in Japanese cuisine settings — such as restaurant names or menus — to give a traditional or premium feel. It is not part of everyday vocabulary or HSK study, but recognizing it helps when visiting authentic sushi places that use the Japanese character. Culturally, it shows the influence of Japanese dining in China, where 鮨 replaces the more common 寿司 for a more elegant look.

Common words containing 鮨 include: 鮨店 (yì diàn) — Sushi restaurant; 鮨鱼 (yì yú) — Sushi fish; 寿司鮨 (shòu sī yì) — Sushi..