Japanese symbol for “causality”

因果

いんが

Romaji: inga

cause and effect; causality

In Japanese, causality is 因果, read いんが (inga).

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 cause and effect; causality
n karma; fate (Buddh)
adj-na unfortunate; unlucky; ill-fated

Kanji and stroke order

因

cause, factor, be associated with

on: イン
kun: よ.る、ちな.む

6 strokes · JLPT 2

果

fruit, reward, carry out

on: カ
kun: は.たす、はた.す、-は.たす、は.てる

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “causality”

Word	Reading	Meaning
因果性	いんがせい ingasei	causality
因果関係	いんがかんけい ingakankei	relation of cause and effect; causal relationship; causal link
原因結果	げんいんけっか gen'inkekka	cause and effect; causality

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
原因	げんいん gen'in	cause; origin; source
要因	よういん youin	main cause; primary factor
死因	しいん shiin	cause of death
一因	いちいん ichiin	one cause; one reason; one factor
因子	いんし inshi	factor
結果	けっか kekka	result; consequence; outcome
効果	こうか kouka	effect; effectiveness; efficacy
成果	せいか seika	(good) result; outcome; fruits (of one's labors)

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.