Japanese symbol for “burden”
負担
ふたん
Romaji: futan
burden; load; responsibility
In Japanese, burden is 負担, read ふたん (futan).
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 burden; load; responsibility
- n, vs, vt bearing (a cost, responsibility, etc.); shouldering
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “burden”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 厄介 | やっかい yakkai | trouble; burden; nuisance |
| 荷物 | にもつ nimotsu | burden |
| 荷 | に ni | burden; responsibility |
| 重み | おもみ omomi | weight (e.g. of someone's words); burden; grandeur |
| 掛ける | かける kakeru | to cause (someone inconvenience, trouble, etc.); to burden (someone); to impose |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 負け | まけ make | defeat; loss; losing (a game) |
| 勝負 | しょうぶ shoubu | victory or defeat |
| 負傷 | ふしょう fushou | injury; wound |
| 負債 | ふさい fusai | debt; liabilities |
| 負う | おう ou | to carry on one's back; to bear; to shoulder |
| 担当 | たんとう tantou | being in charge (of an area of responsibility); being responsible (for a work role, etc.) |
| 担保 | たんぽ tanpo | security; guarantee; collateral |
| 担任 | たんにん tannin | being in charge of (esp. a class or subject); taking charge of |
See also: Chinese symbol for “burden”.
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.