Japanese symbol for “contractions”

陣痛

じんつう

Romaji: jintsuu

labour pains; labor pains; birth pains; contractions

In Japanese, contractions is 陣痛, read じんつう (jintsuu).

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 labour pains; labor pains; birth pains; contractions

Kanji and stroke order

陣

camp, battle array, ranks

on: ジン

10 strokes · JLPT 1

痛

pain, hurt, damage

on: ツウ
kun: いた.い、いた.む、いた.ましい、いた.める

12 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
陣営	じんえい jin'ei	camp (supporters of a doctrine, party, etc.); faction (of a party)
報道陣	ほうどうじん houdoujin	press corps
退陣	たいじん taijin	resignation; stepping down; retirement
出陣	しゅつじん shutsujin	going into battle; departure for the front
布陣	ふじん fujin	battle formation
陣地	じんち jinchi	encampment; position
痛み	いたみ itami	pain; ache; soreness
痛い	いたい itai	painful; sore

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.