く
わ
い

Explanation

Thank you for teaching me! When I looked it up, I found that 慈姑 (kuwai) is an aquatic plant native to China, and its spherical bulbils are used as food. It seems the kanji characters 慈姑 were chosen because the way the small tubers nestle close to the parent tuber looks like “a mother cherishing her child.” It’s famous for being included in osechi (traditional New Year’s dishes) and carries wishes for success and advancement. It’s interesting that even though it’s a tuber, it’s classified as a vegetable! I can feel the kindness of Japanese people, expressing the bonds between parent and child through food.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!

About Spirituali-chan

Spirituali-chan is a somewhat spiritual girl. In this series, Spirituali-chan introduces kanji she encounters while reading spiritual books!

This is a translated report from Japan’s Perfect World Tokyo.

✍️ Supervised by | Editor-in-Chief KOS
Editor-in-Chief of a character goods specialty media. Has written and supervised over 12,000 articles to date. As the representative of Perfect World Co., Ltd., operates Perfect World Tokyo. Handles over 50,000 character goods at all times, personally reviewing and selecting over 1,000 new products every month. All products featured in the media are authentic items sourced directly by the company, and all photos are taken in-house. Articles are written after personally inspecting each product, delivering the latest news and product reviews in the character goods industry. Information is provided from three perspectives: as a retailer, photographer, and editor.

FAQ
What is perfectworldtokyo.com?+
We're a news site based in Tokyo, Japan, sharing the fun and charm of characters and their goods with the world. We're run by Perfect World Co., Ltd. — a team of passionate character goods collectors — led by editor-in-chief KOS. Every item in our online shop "perfectworld.shop" is hand-picked and photographed by us, right here in Japan.
Can I purchase products?+
Yes! Almost all items featured on our site are available to buy or pre-order at perfectworld.shop, our collectors' online store. The shop supports multiple languages, so feel free to shop with confidence. You'll find a link at the bottom of most articles to jump straight there.
Who writes the articles?+
Every article is written by one of our editors — all genuine character goods fans. Nearly all photos (99%+) are also taken by us, one by one, with love. All articles are supervised by editor-in-chief KOS, who has 10+ years of collecting experience, a personal collection of 40,000+ character goods, and selects over 1,000 new items every month.
Is your content written by AI?+
Nope! Every single piece of content is written by real people who love character goods. We don't use AI. Editor-in-chief KOS personally reviews everything before it goes live.
How reliable is the information?+
We write with a lot of personal flair, but we always deliver honest opinions straight from the heart of true fans. You'll notice we don't list prices in our articles — that's intentional, since prices vary by retailer and change over time.
Is it free to read?+
Totally free. Always.
What kind of character goods do you cover?+
Snoopy, Miffy, Sanrio, Disney, Opanchu Usagi, Puppet Sungsung… the list goes on forever! We cover 200+ trendy characters and anime characters driving Japan's KAWAII culture. And discovering brand-new characters before anyone else? That's one of our favorite parts of the job.
Interested in a content partnership?+
We'd love to talk! Join us as a partner in spreading Japan's KAWAII culture to the world. Drop us a line at info@perfectworld.tokyo — we're always open to new collaborations!
1 2