Japanese symbol for “actor”
俳優
はいゆう
Romaji: haiyuu
actor; actress; player; performer
In Japanese, actor is 俳優, read はいゆう (haiyuu).
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
- n actor; actress; player; performer
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “actor”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 役者 | やくしゃ yakusha | actor; actress |
| 男優 | だんゆう dan'yuu | (male) actor |
| アクター | アクター akutaa | actor |
| 演者 | えんじゃ enja | performer; actor; participant (in a TV show or TV panel) |
| 芝居者 | しばいもの shibaimono | actor; actress; someone who works at a theater |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 俳句 | はいく haiku | haiku; 17-mora poem, usu. in 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 morae |
| 俳人 | はいじん haijin | haiku poet |
| 俳諧 | はいかい haikai | haikai (collective name for haiku, haibun, haiga, senryū, etc.) |
| 俳壇 | はいだん haidan | the world of the haiku |
| 俳誌 | はいし haishi | haiku magazine |
| 優勝 | ゆうしょう yuushou | overall victory; championship; winning the title |
| 女優 | じょゆう joyuu | actress; female actor |
| 優先 | ゆうせん yuusen | preference; priority; precedence |
See also: Chinese symbol for “actor”.
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.