Japanese symbol for “fading”

変色

へんしょく

Romaji: henshoku

change of color; change of colour; fading; discoloration

In Japanese, fading is 変色, read へんしょく (henshoku).

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

adj-no, n, vi change of color; change of colour; fading; discoloration; discolouration

Kanji and stroke order

変

unusual, change, strange

on: ヘン
kun: か.わる、か.わり、か.える

9 strokes · JLPT 2

色

color

on: ショク、シキ
kun: いろ

6 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “fading”

Word	Reading	Meaning
退色	たいしょく taishoku	fading; faded colour; faded color
風化	ふうか fuuka	fading (of memories)
フェージング	フェージング feejingu	fading (esp. in radio signals, etc.)
移ろい	うつろい utsuroi	fading; waning

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
大変	たいへん taihen	very; greatly; terribly
変更	へんこう henkou	change; modification; alteration
変化	へんか henka	change; variation; alteration
変わる	かわる kawaru	to change; to be transformed; to be altered
変動	へんどう hendou	change; fluctuation
変身	へんしん henshin	metamorphosis; disguise; transformation
黄色	きいろ kiiro	yellow; amber
色彩	しきさい shikisai	colour; color; hue

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.