飴

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 飴をなめる。▶ —
   I suck on a candy.
2. 子供に飴をあげた。▶ —
   I gave the child a candy.

Collocations

Mnemonic

あめ — 飴, Yamato. The homophone 雨 ame (rain) lives in a separate slug ── ame-candy / ame-rain. The raw material divides the etymology ── Japanese 飴 came from the ancient tradition of 米飴 (kome-ame, rice-malt syrup), while Korean 'satang' and Chinese 糖 táng came from 砂糖 (cane sugar). The same sweetness, three different histories. Two famous traditional ame ── 金太郎飴 kintarou-ame: an Edo-era invention, a long candy stick whose every cross-section shows the same face of the legendary boy Kintarou. The expression has frozen into a metaphor for 'uniform, no individuality'. 飴細工 ame-zaiku (candy sculpture): hot taffy shaped by hand into animals or flowers — Edo street art still alive today. The idiom ── 飴と鞭 ame to muchi (candy and whip = carrot and stick).

Quick check

1. Idiomatic meaning of kintarou-ame (金太郎飴)?

   • Uniformity / no individuality (same any way you slice)
   • Strength / valor
   • Sweetness
   • Antiquity