Japanese symbol for “awakening”
覚醒
かくせい
Romaji: kakusei
waking up; awakening; arousal; revival
In Japanese, awakening is 覚醒, read かくせい (kakusei).
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, vi, vs waking up; awakening; arousal; revival
- n, vi, vs disillusion; disillusionment; awakening
Written forms: 覚醒、覚せい. Readings: かくせい.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “awakening”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 目覚め | めざめ mezame | waking; waking up; awakening |
| 喚起 | かんき kanki | arousal; excitation; awakening |
| 醒覚 | せいかく seikaku | awakening; waking up; opening one's eyes |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 感覚 | かんかく kankaku | sense; sensation; feeling |
| 覚え | おぼえ oboe | memory; sense; experience |
| 覚悟 | かくご kakugo | readiness; (mental) preparedness |
| 自覚 | じかく jikaku | self-awareness; awareness (of one's position, abilities, duty, etc.); consciousness |
| 発覚 | はっかく hakkaku | detection (of a plot, fraud, etc.); discovery; coming to light |
| 覚える | おぼえる oboeru | to memorize; to memorise; to commit to memory |
| 覚醒剤 | かくせいざい kakuseizai | stimulant (e.g. psychoactive drugs like methamphetamine, ritalin, etc.) |
| 警醒 | けいせい keisei | warning |
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.