Kan

Kan (貫, かん) is a traditional Japanese counting unit used primarily for nigiri sushi. In most cases, one kan corresponds to a single piece of nigiri. The precise meaning of the term and its correct kanji spelling remain under investigation and are still unclear. Various theories have been proposed, but none has yet been conclusively verified.

One plausible theory holds that kan was originally associated with the term ni, which in historical Japan was used to count loads carried at both ends of a pole. That practice may later have been transferred to the counting of sushi, so that nigiri sushi was counted in pairs, much as other goods were counted two at a time.

In modern usage, however, kan is not applied consistently. Some sushi restaurants count one piece of sushi as one kan, while others, especially conveyor-belt restaurants, list two pieces as a single unit.

The use of kan as a counting unit is specific to nigiri sushi and differs from the counting methods used for other types of sushi:

• Nigiri sushi: counted with “kan.” Example: Maguro ni-kan (まぐろ二貫) means “two pieces of tuna nigiri.”
• Maki sushi (sushi rolls): usually counted with “ko” (個) or “hon” (本). Example: Kappa-maki san-ko (かっぱ巻き三個) means “three pieces of cucumber maki.”
• Inari sushi (sushi filled in tofu pouches): also counted with “ko” (個). Example: Inari-zushi go-ko (いなり寿司五個) means “five pieces of inari sushi.”
• Chirashi sushi (sushi served in a bowl): often counted with “zen” (膳) or “hai” (杯). Example: Chirashi-zushi ichi-zen (ちらし寿司一膳) means “one serving of chirashi sushi.”