Japanese symbol for “famine”
飢饉
ききん
Romaji: kikin
famine; crop failure
In Japanese, famine is 飢饉, read ききん (kikin).
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 famine; crop failure
- n chronic shortage (e.g. of water)
Written forms: 飢饉、飢きん、饑饉. Readings: ききん.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “famine”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 飢餓 | きが kiga | starvation; famine; hunger |
| 払底 | ふってい futtei | shortage; scarcity; dearth |
| 凶荒 | きょうこう kyoukou | poor crops; famine |
| 凶歉 | きょうけん kyouken | poor crops; famine |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 飢餓 | きが kiga | starvation; famine; hunger |
| 飢え | うえ ue | hunger; starvation |
| 飢える | うえる ueru | to starve; to be famished; to be hungry |
| 飢え死に | うえじに uejini | (death from) starvation; starving to death |
| 飢渇 | きかつ kikatsu | hunger and thirst; starvation |
| 水飢饉 | みずききん mizukikin | drought; water shortage |
| 豊作飢饉 | ほうさくききん housakukikin | impoverishment of farmers because of a bumper harvest; decline in farmers' income caused by the sharply lower farm prices as a result of bumper harvests |
| 大飢饉 | だいききん daikikin | great famine; severe famine |
See also: Chinese symbol for “famine”.
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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