Japanese symbol for “ara”

祭壇座

さいだんざ

Romaji: saidanza

Ara (constellation); the Altar

In Japanese, ara is 祭壇座, read さいだんざ (saidanza).

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 Ara (constellation); the Altar (astron)

Kanji and stroke order

祭

ritual, offer prayers, celebrate

on: サイ
kun: まつ.る、まつ.り、まつり

11 strokes · JLPT 2

壇

podium, stage, rostrum

on: ダン、タン

16 strokes · JLPT 1

座

squat, seat, cushion

on: ザ
kun: すわ.る

10 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
祭り	まつり matsuri	festival; feast; matsuri
祭典	さいてん saiten	festival
前夜祭	ぜんやさい zen'yasai	event held the night before another event; eve (of a festival) (e.g. Christmas Eve)
冠婚葬祭	かんこんそうさい kankonsousai	important ceremonial occasions in family relationships
司祭	しさい shisai	priest; minister; pastor
祭壇	さいだん saidan	altar
花壇	かだん kadan	flower bed
土壇場	どたんば dotanba	last moment; eleventh hour
座席	ざせき zaseki	seat (esp. in public places or places with assigned seating); seating

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.