Japanese symbol for “circa”

In Japanese, circa is か (ka).

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. prt indicates a question
2. prt indicates an embedded question; indicates an indirect question
3. prt or; whether or not; either ... or ...
4. prt some- (e.g. something, someone)
5. prt hmm; huh; I wonder (if, why, etc.); it might (be); maybe; perhaps it's (because of)
6. prt shouldn't we ...?; why don't we ...?; what about ...?; how about ...?; let's ...; may I ...?

See also: Chinese symbol for “circa”.

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.