Manila clam; Japanese littleneck clam
Common edible clam in Japan, often used in miso soup and steamed dishes.
I love miso soup with Manila clams.
潮干狩りでたくさんあさりを採った。
We gathered a lot of clams at the clam-digging event.
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 浅蜊, 蛤仔, and 鯏 are rare and mainly encountered in specialized contexts.
Katakana spelling is common in menus, packaging, and biological contexts.
Rare kanji form; not commonly used in everyday writing.
Rare kanji form; not commonly used in everyday writing.
Rare kanji form; not commonly used in everyday writing.
The origin is uncertain; the word is native Japanese and has been used since ancient times.