King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “cartoon”

Romaji: manga
cartoon; comic; comic strip; manga

In Japanese, cartoon is , read (manga).

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 cartoon; comic; comic strip; manga

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

cartoon, involuntarily, unrestrained
on: マン
kun: みだり.に、そぞ.ろ
14 strokes · JLPT 1
brush-stroke, picture
on: ガ、カク、エ、カイ
kun: えが.く、かく.する、かぎ.る、はかりごと
8 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “cartoon”

WordReadingMeaning
ぎが gigacaricature; cartoon; comics
したえ shitaerough sketch; design; cartoon
カートゥーン kaatuuncartoon
ポンチえ ponchie(satirical) cartoon; caricature; humorous illustration
ポンチ ponchi(satirical) cartoon; caricature; humorous illustration

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
まんざい manzaimanzai; comic dialogue; two-person comedy act, usu. presented as a fast-paced dialogue, occ. presented as a skit
まんだん mandanchat; desultory conversation
さんまん sanmanvague; desultory; distracted
ロマン romanromance (e.g. Arthurian romances); heroic tale
ほうまん houmanwhimsy; looseness; indiscretion
えいが eigamovie; film; motion picture
けいかく keikakuplan; project; schedule
がぞう gazouimage; picture; portrait

See also: Chinese symbol for “cartoon”.

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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