King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “demon”

Romaji: ma
demon; devil; evil spirit; evil influence

In Japanese, demon is , read (ma).

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 demon; devil; evil spirit; evil influence
  2. n-suf -crazed person; -obsessed person; fiend
  3. adj-no dreaded; terrible; awful; dreadful

Kanji and stroke order

witch, demon, evil spirit
on: マ
21 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “demon”

WordReadingMeaning
おに oniogre; demon; oni
あくま akumadevil; demon; fiend
まもの mamonodemon; devil; evil spirit
ようかい youkaighost; apparition; phantom
デーモン deemondemon

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
あくま akumadevil; demon; fiend
まほう mahoumagic; witchcraft; sorcery
じゃま jamahindrance; obstacle; nuisance
まじゅつ majutsumagic; sorcery; witchcraft
まほうつかい mahoutsukaimagician; wizard; sorcerer
まじょ majowitch

See also: Chinese symbol for “demon”.

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.