“I hate this train line! We’re packed like sardines!!”
My British coworker grumbled in the jam-packed train. Unfortunately, it happens a lot for us to become like sardines when we commute in Tokyo.
Sardines???
“How do you say it in Japanese?”
He asked me. Here is my reply.
“Sushi zume!“
Not to mention, sushi is an iconic Japanese food. What is “zume?” Zume is a voiced sound of “tsume,“ which is a noun of the verb “tsumeru,” pack.
If you have only experienced conveyor belt sushi, you might not have had a lot of opportunities to see them, but sushi is always lined up beautifully when it is packed. Each rectangle-ish sushi is put in a package in the same way. They are never messed up.
Back then, sushi was more likely something to bring home and eat, not eat at restaurants. To keep the appearance nicely even after carrying, each sushi should have been lined up and packed without any gaps, and these packed sushi are called “sushi ori” (寿司折).
“Phew! We survived! By the way, which do you like better, sardines or sushi?”
My coworker asked me after many passengers got off our train. I replied…
“Either is fine, but I want to eat them not to be packed like them!”
♪Today’s Expression♪
★We were packed like sardines.
☆Sushi zume datta.
→Literally means “It was like a packed sushi.”
Working for an English language school. My source of energy is our students’ smiles full of curiosity. I love visiting my friends in and outside of Japan.
HTJ has a YouTube page! Check it out