Japanese symbol for “calamity”
災害
さいがい
Romaji: saigai
calamity; disaster; misfortune
In Japanese, calamity is 災害, read さいがい (saigai).
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 calamity; disaster; misfortune
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “calamity”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 災難 | さいなん sainan | calamity; misfortune; disaster |
| 災い | わざわい wazawai | disaster; calamity; misfortune |
| 惨禍 | さんか sanka | calamity; disaster; catastrophe |
| 悲劇 | ひげき higeki | tragedy; calamity; disaster |
| 災厄 | さいやく saiyaku | calamity; disaster; accident |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 火災 | かさい kasai | conflagration; fire |
| 防災 | ぼうさい bousai | disaster preparedness; prevention of damage resulting from a natural disaster; protection against disaster |
| 震災 | しんさい shinsai | earthquake disaster |
| 被災 | ひさい hisai | suffering (from a disaster); being hit (by an earthquake, typhoon, etc.); falling victim (to) |
| 災い | わざわい wazawai | disaster; calamity; misfortune |
| 被害 | ひがい higai | (suffering) damage; injury; harm |
| 障害 | しょうがい shougai | obstacle; impediment; hindrance |
| 損害 | そんがい songai | damage; injury; loss |
See also: Chinese symbol for “calamity”.
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.