Japanese symbol for “animal”
動物
どうぶつ
Romaji: doubutsu
animal
In Japanese, animal is 動物, read どうぶつ (doubutsu).
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 animal
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “animal”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 獣 | けもの kemono | beast; brute; animal |
| 生き物 | いきもの ikimono | living thing; living creature; animal |
| アニマル | アニマル animaru | animal |
| 動物性 | どうぶつせい doubutsusei | animal (in nature) |
| 畜生 | ちくしょう chikushou | beast; animal |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 活動 | かつどう katsudou | activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation |
| 行動 | こうどう koudou | action; conduct; behaviour |
| 運動 | うんどう undou | exercise; physical training; workout |
| 移動 | いどう idou | movement; transfer; migration |
| 自動 | じどう jidou | automatic |
| 人物 | じんぶつ jinbutsu | person; character; figure |
| 物語 | ものがたり monogatari | story; tale; narrative |
| 建物 | たてもの tatemono | building |
See also: Chinese symbol for “animal”.
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.