spatula, arrow shaft
箆 centers on a flat, elongated tool: a spatula for spreading or scraping, and by extension an arrow shaft, which shares a similar slender, straight form.
箆 combines 竹 (bamboo) with 比, which likely contributes a phonetic element. The bamboo radical suggests a tool made from bamboo, fitting the spatula meaning. The exact historical development is uncertain.
Bamboo 竹 over 比: imagine a bamboo spatula being compared to an arrow shaft—both are flat and straight, made from split bamboo.
For ヘイ, picture using a spatula to spread hay on a flat surface: hay -> ヘイ, and the spatula glides smoothly.
spatula; (fabric) tracing spatula; (pottery) pallet
bamboo stick used to strike meditators into greater wakefulness (in Zen Buddhism)
(artificially cultured) Japanese crucian carp
rubber spatula
shaft (of an arrow; made of bamboo)
American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)
spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea)
common spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
starch spatula
spatula; trowel
bone trowel (Jōmon period); bone spatula