King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “dinner”

Romaji: yoru
night; evening

In Japanese, dinner is , read (yoru).

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. adv, n night; evening
  2. n dinner

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

night, evening
on: ヤ
kun: よ、よる
8 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “dinner”

WordReadingMeaning
ゆうしょく yuushokuevening meal; dinner
えんかい enkaiparty; banquet; reception
ばん bandinner; evening meal
ばんさん bansandinner (esp. a formal one)
ゆうはん yuuhanevening meal; dinner; supper

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こんや kon'yathis evening; tonight
やかん yakannight; nighttime
しんや shin'yalate at night
よなか yonakamiddle of the night; dead of night
てつや tetsuyastaying up all night
よあけ yoakedawn; daybreak

See also: Chinese symbol for “dinner”.

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.

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