Japanese symbol for “emergency”
非常
ひじょう
Romaji: hijou
emergency
In Japanese, emergency is 非常, read ひじょう (hijou).
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 emergency
- adj-na extreme; great; extraordinary; remarkable; unusual; terrible
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “emergency”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 緊急 | きんきゅう kinkyuu | urgency; emergency |
| 危機 | きき kiki | crisis; critical situation; emergency |
| 万一 | まんいち man'ichi | (unlikely event of) emergency; the worst(-case scenario); 10000 to 1 |
| 急 | きゅう kyuu | emergency; crisis; danger |
| 有事 | ゆうじ yuuji | emergency |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 是非 | ぜひ zehi | certainly; without fail |
| 非難 | ひなん hinan | criticism; blame; censure |
| 非公式 | ひこうしき hikoushiki | informal; unofficial |
| 非公開 | ひこうかい hikoukai | private; non-public; secret |
| 非行 | ひこう hikou | delinquency; misconduct |
| 通常 | つうじょう tsuujou | usual; ordinary; normal |
| 常に | つねに tsuneni | always; constantly; at all times |
| 日常 | にちじょう nichijou | everyday; daily; ordinary |
See also: Chinese symbol for “emergency”.
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.