King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “ache”

Romaji: itami
pain; ache; soreness; grief

In Japanese, ache is , read (itami).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. n pain; ache; soreness; grief; distress
  2. n damage; injury; wear; bruise; break

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

pain, hurt, damage
on: ツウ
kun: いた.い、いた.む、いた.ましい、いた.める
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “ache”

WordReadingMeaning
いたむ itamuto hurt; to ache; to feel a pain
つう tsuupain; ache; -algia
うずき uzukiache; twinge
うずく uzukuto throb (with pain); to ache; to smart
やめる yameruto hurt; to ache

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
いたい itaipainful; sore
ずつう zutsuuheadache
くつう kutsuupain; agony; suffering
つうれつ tsuuretsusevere; bitter; scathing
つうかん tsuukanfeeling keenly; fully realizing

See also: Chinese symbol for “ache”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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