Japanese symbol for “criminal”
犯人
はんにん
Romaji: hannin
offender; criminal; culprit
In Japanese, criminal is 犯人, read はんにん (hannin).
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 offender; criminal; culprit
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “criminal”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 罪人 | ざいにん zainin | criminal; lawbreaker; wrongdoer |
| 黒い | くろい kuroi | suspicious; criminal; illicit |
| 犯罪者 | はんざいしゃ hanzaisha | criminal; culprit |
| 咎人 | とがにん toganin | offender; criminal |
| 下手人 | げしゅにん geshunin | offender (esp. murderer); criminal |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 犯罪 | はんざい hanzai | crime; offence; offense |
| 犯行 | はんこう hankou | crime; criminal act; offence |
| 防犯 | ぼうはん bouhan | prevention of crime |
| 犯す | おかす okasu | to commit (e.g. crime); to perpetrate; to make (e.g. mistake) |
| 戦犯 | せんぱん senpan | war criminal |
| 人間 | にんげん ningen | human being; human; person |
| 個人 | こじん kojin | individual; private person; personal |
| 人気 | にんき ninki | popularity; public favor |
See also: Chinese symbol for “criminal”.
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.