Japanese symbol for “crepe”

縮緬

ちりめん

Romaji: chirimen

(silk) crepe; crape

In Japanese, crepe is 縮緬, read ちりめん (chirimen).

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 (silk) crepe; crape

Kanji and stroke order

縮

shrink, contract, shrivel

on: シュク
kun: ちぢ.む、ちぢ.まる、ちぢ.める、ちぢ.れる

17 strokes · JLPT 1

緬

fine thread, Burma

on: メン、ベン

15 strokes

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
縮小	しゅくしょう shukushou	reduction; curtailment; cut
短縮	たんしゅく tanshuku	shortening; contraction; reduction
圧縮	あっしゅく asshuku	compression
濃縮	のうしゅく noushuku	concentration (e.g. of a solution); enrichment; condensation
萎縮	いしゅく ishuku	withering; shrivelling; shrinking
恐縮	きょうしゅく kyoushuku	feeling (much) obliged; being (very) grateful; being thankful
泰緬鉄道	たいめんてつどう taimentetsudou	Thai-Burma Railway
英緬戦争	えいめんせんそう eimensensou	Anglo-Burmese Wars (1823-1826, 1852-1853, 1885-1887)

See also: Chinese symbol for “crepe”.

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.