Japanese symbol for “compasses”

ぶん回し

ぶんまわし

Romaji: bunmawashi

(pair of) compasses; dividers

In Japanese, compasses is ぶん回し, read ぶんまわし (bunmawashi).

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 (pair of) compasses; dividers
n revolving stage

Kanji and stroke order

回

-times, round, game

on: カイ、エ
kun: まわ.る、-まわ.る、-まわ.り、まわ.す

6 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
今回	こんかい konkai	this time; now
回復	かいふく kaifuku	restoration; recovery; rehabilitation
前回	ぜんかい zenkai	previous time; last time; previous installment
回答	かいとう kaitou	reply; answer
回収	かいしゅう kaishuu	collection; recovery; withdrawal
回転	かいてん kaiten	rotation; revolution; turn

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.