King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “fish”

Romaji: sakana
fish

In Japanese, fish is , read (sakana).

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. n fish

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

fish
on: ギョ
kun: うお、さかな、-ざかな
11 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “fish”

WordReadingMeaning
つる tsuruto fish; to angle; to catch
ぎょるい gyoruifish; fishes
こん konfish
フィッシュ fisshufish
すなどる sunadoruto fish

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きんぎょ kingyogoldfish (Carassius auratus)
ぎょらい gyoraitorpedo
さかなや sakanayafish market; fish dealer; fishmonger
ぎょかい gyokaimarine products; seafood; fish and shellfish
ぎょるい gyoruifish; fishes
にんぎょ ningyomermaid; merman

See also: Chinese symbol for “fish”.

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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