King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “ebony”

Romaji: kokutan
ebony

In Japanese, ebony is , read (kokutan).

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 ebony

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

black
on: コク
kun: くろ、くろ.ずむ、くろ.い
11 strokes · JLPT 3
cedar, sandalwood, spindle tree
on: ダン、タン
kun: まゆみ
17 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “ebony”

WordReadingMeaning
エボニー eboniiebony
うぼく ubokuebony
うぶんぼく ubunbokuebony
エボニーいろ eboniiiroebony (color)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こくじん kokujinblack person
くろい kuroiblack
くろじ kuroji(being in) the black; surplus
こくばん kokubanblackboard
あんこく ankokudarkness
しろくろ shirokuroblack and white; monochrome
だんか dankafamily which supports a temple; parishioner
びゃくだん byakudanIndian sandalwood (Santalum album); white sandalwood

See also: Chinese symbol for “ebony”.

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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