King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “apparition”

Romaji: maboroshi
phantom; vision; illusion; apparition

In Japanese, apparition is , read (maboroshi).

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. adj-no, n phantom; vision; illusion; apparition
  2. adj-no, n something fleeting; short-lived dream
  3. adj-no, n fabled item; mythical thing; very rare thing

Kanji and stroke order

phantasm, vision, dream
on: ゲン
kun: まぼろし
4 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “apparition”

WordReadingMeaning
ゆうれい yuureighost; specter; spectre
ようかい youkaighost; apparition; phantom
おばけ obakeghost; apparition
ばけもの bakemonogoblin; apparition; monster
まもの mamonodemon; devil; evil spirit

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
げんそう gensoufantasy; illusion; vision
げんかく genkakuhallucination; illusion
げんえい gen'eiphantom; vision; illusion
むげん mugendreams; fantasy; visions
げんめつ genmetsudisillusionment; disillusion; disenchantment
へんげん hengentransformation

See also: Chinese symbol for “apparition”.

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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