熨斗鮑のしあわび

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Meanings

thin strip of dried abalone; noshi abalone

A traditional Japanese gift item: a thin, stretched strip of dried abalone, often tied to a formal gift as a symbol of good fortune. Now mostly replaced by the paper noshi (熨斗), but the term survives in gift-giving contexts.

昔むかしは熨斗鮑のしあわびを結ゆい納のう品ひんに添そえた。
In the past, a strip of dried abalone was attached to betrothal gifts.
熨斗鮑のしあわびは縁えん起ぎ物ものとして贈ぞう答とうに使つかわれた。
Noshi abalone was used as a lucky charm in gift exchanges.

Kanji

熨flatiron, smooth out
斗Big Dipper, ten sho (vol), sake dipper
鮑abalone

Related words

熨斗のし
熨斗 originally referred to this dried abalone strip, but today it almost always means the paper decoration attached to gifts.
鮑あわび
鮑 is the general word for abalone; 熨斗鮑 specifically refers to the dried, stretched strip used in traditional gift-giving.

Built from

のし+あわび

Written forms

熨斗鮑のしあわびUsage100%
Standard kanji spelling for this traditional gift item.
熨斗のしあわび
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; easier to read than the full kanji form.

Etymology

熨斗 (noshi) refers to the process of stretching and drying the abalone; 鮑 (awabi) means abalone. The exact origin of the stretching technique is uncertain, but it is associated with ancient gift-giving customs.