Japanese symbol for “except”
以外
いがい
Romaji: igai
excluding; except (for); apart from; other than
In Japanese, except is 以外, read いがい (igai).
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-suf excluding; except (for); apart from; other than; besides; in addition to
- n-suf outside (a boundary, scope, etc.)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “except”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| しか | しか shika | nothing but; except; no more than |
| 他 | ほか hoka | except; but; other than |
| より | より yori | except; but; other than |
| 只 | ただ tada | but; however; nevertheless |
| 除いて | のぞいて nozoite | except; save |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 以上 | いじょう ijou | not less than ...; ... and over; ... and above |
| 以前 | いぜん izen | before; prior to; ago |
| 以下 | いか ika | not exceeding ...; not more than ...; ... and under |
| 以来 | いらい irai | since; henceforth |
| 以内 | いない inai | within; inside of; less than |
| 以降 | いこう ikou | on and after; from ... onward; since |
| 海外 | かいがい kaigai | foreign; abroad; overseas |
| 外国 | がいこく gaikoku | foreign country |
See also: Chinese symbol for “except”.
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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