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.
In the past, a strip of dried abalone was attached to betrothal gifts.
Noshi abalone was used as a lucky charm in gift exchanges.
Standard kanji spelling for this traditional gift item.
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; easier to read than the full kanji form.
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.