Japanese symbol for “bottoming”

下染め

したぞめ

Romaji: shitazome

preliminary dyeing; bottoming

In Japanese, bottoming is 下染め, read したぞめ (shitazome).

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, vs preliminary dyeing; bottoming

Written forms: 下染め、下染. Readings: したぞめ.

Kanji and stroke order

下

below, down, descend

on: カ、ゲ
kun: した、しも、もと、さ.げる

3 strokes · JLPT 4

染

dye, color, paint

on: セン
kun: そ.める、そ.まる、し.みる、し.み

9 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
以下	いか ika	not exceeding ...; not more than ...; ... and under
地下	ちか chika	underground; below the ground
低下	ていか teika	fall; decline; lowering
上下	じょうげ jouge	top and bottom; high and low; above and below
地下鉄	ちかてつ chikatetsu	subway; metro; underground (railway)
部下	ぶか buka	subordinate person
感染	かんせん kansen	infection; contagion; becoming infected
汚染	おせん osen	pollution; contamination

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.