貝
- Meaning: shell, shellfish
- Pronunciations: kai
The Kanji character “貝” was formed from the hieroglyphs of a certain type of shellfish. That type of shell was used as money in ancient China (17th-10th century BC). That’s why many Kanji characters related to money have “貝” partially used in them.
- 貝殻（かいがら）: shells
- ほら貝（ほらがい）: trumpet shell
- 二枚貝（にまいがい）: bivalve
- 巻き貝（まきがい）: snails, spiral shells, conchs
海岸で貝殻を拾った。
かいがんで かいがらを ひろった。
Kaigan de kaigara wo hirotta.
(I) picked up shells on the beach.
床の間にほら貝が飾られています。
とこのまに ほらがいが かざられています。
Tokonoma ni horagai ga kazararete imasu.
A spiral shell is displayed in the tokonoma
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