King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “cricket”

Romaji: mushi
insect; bug; cricket; moth

In Japanese, cricket is , read (mushi).

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. n insect; bug; cricket; moth
  2. n worm; roundworm
  3. n thing inside one's body believed to influence one's thoughts and feelings; (one's) unconscious
  4. n nervousness; fretfulness
  5. n person devoted to one thing; single-minded person
  6. n valve core

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

insect, bug, temper
on: チュウ、キ
kun: むし
6 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “cricket”

WordReadingMeaning
クリケット kurikettocricket (game)
こおろぎ koorogicricket (Gryllidae spp.)
らくしじょう rakushijoucricket; bush-cricket
きりぎりす kirigirisucricket

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こんちゅう konchuuinsect; bug
むしば mushibatooth decay; decayed tooth; dental cavity
がいちゅう gaichuuharmful insect; noxious insect; pest
きせいちゅう kiseichuuparasite
けむし kemushihairy caterpillar; woolly bear
ようちゅう youchuularva; grub; maggot

See also: Chinese symbol for “cricket”.

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.