Japanese symbol for “affliction”
苦渋
くじゅう
Romaji: kujuu
bitterness; distress; pain; anguish
In Japanese, affliction is 苦渋, read くじゅう (kujuu).
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
- adj-no, n, vi bitterness; distress; pain; anguish; affliction
- n bitterness and astringency
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “affliction”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 塵 | じん jin | defilement; impurity; affliction |
| 患難 | かんなん kannan | affliction |
| 憂い | うれい urei | anxiety; worry; trouble |
| 罹災 | りさい risai | suffering (from a calamity); affliction |
| 疾苦 | しっく shikku | affliction; suffering |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 苦手 | にがて nigate | poor (at); weak (in); not very good (at) |
| 苦労 | くろう kurou | trouble; hardship; difficulty |
| 苦しみ | くるしみ kurushimi | pain; anguish; distress |
| 苦痛 | くつう kutsuu | pain; agony; suffering |
| 苦情 | くじょう kujou | complaint; troubles; objection |
| 苦しい | くるしい kurushii | painful; difficult; tough |
| 渋滞 | じゅうたい juutai | (traffic) congestion; traffic jam; gridlock |
| 渋谷 | しぶや shibuya | Shibuya City (special ward of Tokyo); Shibuya |
See also: Chinese symbol for “affliction”.
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.