noun
round herring
A species of herring (Etrumeus teres) found in Japanese waters, often used dried or as sashimi.
ウルメイワシは干物にすると美味しい。
Round herring is delicious when dried.
Usually written in katakana; the kanji form 潤目鰯 is rare.
Hiragana spelling, also common.
Kanji form; rarely used in practice.
The name likely derives from 潤目 (urume, 'moist eyes'), referring to the fish's large, oily eyes, and 鰯 (iwashi, 'sardine').