Japanese symbol for “disaster”
遭難
そうなん
Romaji: sounan
(meeting with) disaster; (having an) accident; mishap; shipwreck
In Japanese, disaster is 遭難, read そうなん (sounan).
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, vi, vs (meeting with) disaster; (having an) accident; mishap; shipwreck; distress
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “disaster”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 災害 | さいがい saigai | calamity; disaster; misfortune |
| 災い | わざわい wazawai | disaster; calamity; misfortune |
| 不幸 | ふこう fukou | unhappiness; sorrow; misfortune |
| 惨事 | さんじ sanji | disaster; tragedy; tragic incident |
| 大変 | たいへん taihen | major incident; disaster |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 遭遇 | そうぐう souguu | encounter; running into; meeting with (e.g. an accident) |
| 遭難者 | そうなんしゃ sounansha | victim; sufferer |
| 遭難信号 | そうなんしんごう sounanshingou | distress signal; SOS |
| 遭遇戦 | そうぐうせん souguusen | encounter; engagement; battle |
| 難に遭う | なんにあう nanniau | to meet with disaster |
| 難しい | むずかしい muzukashii | difficult; hard; troublesome |
| 困難 | こんなん konnan | difficulty; hardship; trouble |
| 避難 | ひなん hinan | taking refuge; finding shelter; evacuation |
See also: Chinese symbol for “disaster”.
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.