King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “alternative”

Romaji: daitai
substitution

In Japanese, alternative is , read (daitai).

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, vs, vt substitution
  2. adj-no alternative; substitute

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

substitute, change, convert
on: ダイ、タイ
kun: か.わる、かわ.る、かわ.り、か.わり
5 strokes · JLPT 3
exchange, spare, substitute
on: タイ
kun: か.える、か.え-、か.わる
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “alternative”

WordReadingMeaning
アングラ anguraunderground (film, theater, etc.); unconventional; alternative
オルタナティブ orutanatibualternative
たくいつてき takuitsutekialternative
せんたくてき sentakutekiselective; optional; alternative
アンダーグラウンド andaaguraundounderground (film, theater, etc.); unconventional; alternative

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
じだい jidaiperiod; epoch; era
だいひょう daihyourepresentation; representative; delegate
げんだい gendaipresent age; present day; contemporary
かわり kawarisubstitute; replacement; substituting
せだい sedaigeneration
ねんだい nendaiage; era; period
かわせ kawasemoney order; draft
かえ kaechange; alteration

See also: Chinese symbol for “alternative”.

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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