Japanese symbol for “fief”
藩
はん
Romaji: han
han (estate of a daimyo in the Edo and early Meiji periods); feudal domain; fief; province
In Japanese, fief is 藩, read はん (han).
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, n-suf han (estate of a daimyo in the Edo and early Meiji periods); feudal domain; fief; province
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “fief”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 本領 | ほんりょう honryou | fief; inherited estate |
| 禄 | ろく roku | stipend (paid to court officials, samurai, etc.); salary; fief |
| 封土 | ほうど houdo | feudal estate; daimiate; fief |
| 封地 | ほうち houchi | daimiate; fief |
| 知行 | ちぎょう chigyou | territory given by one's liege; fief; fiefdom |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 藩主 | はんしゅ hanshu | feudal lord; daimyo |
| 藩士 | はんし hanshi | retainer of a daimyo |
| 藩政 | はんせい hansei | domain administration (Edo period); clan administration |
| 脱藩 | だっぱん dappan | becoming a lordless samurai |
| 廃藩置県 | はいはんちけん haihanchiken | abolition of the han system and establishment of prefectures (1871) |
| 藩校 | はんこう hankou | han school; school established by a daimyo for educating the children of the domain's retainers |
See also: Chinese symbol for “fief”.
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.