Japanese symbol for “barbarians”
夷狄
いてき
Romaji: iteki
barbarians; aliens
In Japanese, barbarians is 夷狄, read いてき (iteki).
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 barbarians; aliens
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “barbarians”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蛮夷 | ばんい ban'i | savages; barbarians |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蝦夷 | えみし emishi | Emishi; Ezo; non-Yamato peoples in northern Japan |
| 攘夷 | じょうい joui | expulsion of foreigners |
| 焼夷弾 | しょういだん shouidan | incendiary bomb; firebomb |
| 東夷 | あずまえびす azumaebisu | warrior from the eastern parts of Japan |
| 辛夷 | こぶし kobushi | kobus magnolia (Magnolia kobus) |
| 北狄 | ほくてき hokuteki | Northern Di people (Zhou dynasty term for non-ethnic Chinese to the north); northern barbarians |
| 夷蛮戎狄 | いばんじゅうてき ibanjuuteki | the barbarians beyond the borders of old China |
See also: Chinese symbol for “barbarians”.
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.