Japanese symbol for “disruption”

破壊

はかい

Romaji: hakai

destruction; disruption

In Japanese, disruption is 破壊, read はかい (hakai).

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 destruction; disruption
n, vi, vs (application) crash (comp)

Kanji and stroke order

破

rend, rip, tear

on: ハ
kun: やぶ.る、やぶ.れる、わ.れる

10 strokes · JLPT 2

壊

demolition, break, destroy

on: カイ、エ
kun: こわ.す、こわ.れる、やぶ.る

16 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
突破	とっぱ toppa	breaking through; breakthrough; penetration
破産	はさん hasan	bankruptcy; insolvency
破る	やぶる yaburu	to tear; to rip; to break
破損	はそん hason	damage; breakage
破片	はへん hahen	fragment; broken piece; splinter
崩壊	ほうかい houkai	collapse; crumbling; breaking down
壊す	こわす kowasu	to break; to destroy; to demolish
壊れる	こわれる kowareru	to be broken; to break; to fall apart

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.