The word sashimi means “pierced body”, i.e. “刺身” = sashimi, where 刺し = sashi (pierced, stuck) and 身 = mi (body, meat). The culture of eating raw fish started in China as early as 500 BCE and the delicacy arrived in Japan during the Heian Period. ^[1] This word dates from the Muromachi period, and was possibly coined when the word “切る” = kiru (cut), the culinary step, was considered too inauspicious to be used by anyone other than samurai.^{[citation needed]} This word may derive from the culinary practice of sticking the fish’s tail and fin to the slices in identifying the fish being eaten.