King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “besides”

Romaji: igai
excluding; except (for); apart from; other than

In Japanese, besides is , read (igai).

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. n-suf excluding; except (for); apart from; other than; besides; in addition to
  2. n-suf outside (a boundary, scope, etc.)

Kanji and stroke order

by means of, because, in view of
on: イ
kun: もっ.て
5 strokes · JLPT 3
outside
on: ガイ、ゲ
kun: そと、ほか、はず.す、はず.れる
5 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “besides”

WordReadingMeaning
し shiand; besides; moreover
かたわら katawaraside; edge; beside
うえ uebesides ...; in addition to ...; on top of ...
ほか hokabesides; in addition to; as well as
かつ katsuand; moreover; besides

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
いじょう ijounot less than ...; ... and over; ... and above
いぜん izenbefore; prior to; ago
いか ikanot exceeding ...; not more than ...; ... and under
いらい iraisince; henceforth
いない inaiwithin; inside of; less than
いこう ikouon and after; from ... onward; since
かいがい kaigaiforeign; abroad; overseas
がいこく gaikokuforeign country

See also: Chinese symbol for “besides”.

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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