King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “body”

Romaji: karada
body

In Japanese, body is , read (karada).

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 body
  2. n torso; trunk
  3. n build; physique; frame; figure
  4. n health; constitution

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

body, substance, object
on: タイ、テイ
kun: からだ、かたち
7 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “body”

WordReadingMeaning
いたい itai(dead) body; corpse; remains
にくたい nikutaithe body; the flesh; the outer man
しゃたい shataibody (of car); frame
ほんぶん honbuntext (of a book, document, etc.); body (of a letter)
しんたい shintaibody; physical system; (the) person

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ぜんたい zentaiwhole; entirety
だんたい dantaigroup; party; team
たいけん taiken(practical) experience; personal experience; hands-on experience
いったい ittai(what) the heck; (why) in the world; (who) on earth
たいせい taiseiorder; system; structure
たいじゅう taijuu(body) weight

See also: Chinese symbol for “body”.

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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