Japanese symbol for “artificial”
人工
じんこう
Romaji: jinkou
artificial; man-made; human work; human skill
In Japanese, artificial is 人工, read じんこう (jinkou).
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
- adj-no, n artificial; man-made; human work; human skill; artificiality
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “artificial”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 人造 | じんぞう jinzou | artificial; man-made; imitation |
| 不自然 | ふしぜん fushizen | unnatural; artificial; affected |
| 人工的 | じんこうてき jinkouteki | artificial; unnatural |
| 人為的 | じんいてき jin'iteki | artificial; unnatural; human-caused (e.g. mistake, error, disaster) |
| 作為的 | さくいてき sakuiteki | intentional; deliberate; contrived |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 人間 | にんげん ningen | human being; human; person |
| 個人 | こじん kojin | individual; private person; personal |
| 人気 | にんき ninki | popularity; public favor |
| 人生 | じんせい jinsei | (one's) life |
| 人々 | ひとびと hitobito | people; men and women |
| 大人 | おとな otona | adult; grown-up |
| 工場 | こうじょう koujou | factory; plant; mill |
| 工事 | こうじ kouji | construction work |
See also: Chinese symbol for “artificial”.
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.