Japanese symbol for “excavating”

切り開き

きりひらき

Romaji: kirihiraki

clearing (land); excavating

In Japanese, excavating is 切り開き, read きりひらき (kirihiraki).

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 clearing (land); excavating

Kanji and stroke order

切

cut, cutoff, be sharp

on: セツ、サイ
kun: き.る、-き.る、き.り、-き.り

4 strokes · JLPT 3

開

open, unfold, unseal

on: カイ
kun: ひら.く、ひら.き、-びら.き、ひら.ける

12 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
大切	たいせつ taisetsu	important; significant; serious
一切	いっさい issai	all; everything; entirety
適切	てきせつ tekisetsu	appropriate; suitable; fitting
切り	きり kiri	end; finish; place to stop
切る	きる kiru	to cut; to cut through; to perform (surgery)
親切	しんせつ shinsetsu	kind; gentle; considerate
開催	かいさい kaisai	holding (a conference, exhibition, etc.); opening; hosting (e.g. the Olympics)
公開	こうかい koukai	opening to the public; making available to the public; exhibiting

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.