King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “fast”

Romaji: hayai
fast; quick; rapid; swift

In Japanese, fast is , read (hayai).

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

  1. adj-i fast; quick; rapid; swift; speedy; brisk
  2. adj-i early; soon; earlier than usual
  3. adj-i premature; too soon; too early
  4. adj-i easy; simple; quick; fast
  5. adj-i as soon as ...; the moment ...; the instant ...

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

early, fast
on: ソウ、サッ
kun: はや.い、はや、はや-、はや.まる
6 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “fast”

WordReadingMeaning
ファースト faasutofast
あしばや ashibayafast (walking); quick; brisk
きゅう kyuurapid; swift; fast
だんじき danjikifasting; fast
ぐっすり gussurisoundly (sleeping); fast (asleep)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
そうき soukiearly stage
そうちょう souchouearly morning
さっそく sassokuat once; immediately; without delay
すばやい subayaiquick; swift; nimble
そうそう sousouas soon as ...; just after ...; immediately after ...

See also: Chinese symbol for “fast”.

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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