King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “aromatic”

Romaji: koubashii
aromatic (roasted beans, roasted tea, etc.); fragrant (e.g. burning wood); pleasant-smelling; savory-smelling (e.g. barbecued meat)

In Japanese, aromatic is , read (koubashii).

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-i aromatic (roasted beans, roasted tea, etc.); fragrant (e.g. burning wood); pleasant-smelling; savory-smelling (e.g. barbecued meat); savoury; appetizing

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

incense, smell, perfume
on: コウ、キョウ
kun: か、かお.り、かお.る
9 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “aromatic”

WordReadingMeaning
かんばしい kanbashiisweet-smelling; fragrant; aromatic
ほうれつ houretsuaromatic; heroic deed; outstanding achievement
アロマティック aromatikkuaromatic
いくいく ikuikuflourishing; teeming with culture; aromatic
ほうこうざい houkouzaiair freshener; fragrance; aromatic

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かおり kaoriaroma; fragrance; scent
ホンコン honkonHong Kong
こうすい kousuiperfume; scent
ほうこう houkouperfume; fragrance; aroma
せんこう senkouincense stick
こうしんりょう koushinryouspice; spices; condiment

See also: Chinese symbol for “aromatic”.

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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