King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “flesh”

Romaji: niku
flesh

In Japanese, flesh is , read (niku).

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 flesh
  2. n meat
  3. n flesh (of a fruit); pulp
  4. n the physical body (as opposed to the spirit); flesh
  5. n thickness
  6. n content; substance; flesh

Kanji and stroke order

meat
on: ニク
kun: しし
6 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “flesh”

WordReadingMeaning
にくたい nikutaithe body; the flesh; the outer man
かにく kanikuflesh (of a fruit); pulp
ししむら shishimurathe body; the flesh

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きんにく kinnikumuscle
にくたい nikutaithe body; the flesh; the outer man
ひにく hinikuirony; sarcasm; cynicism
ぎゅうにく gyuunikubeef
やきにく yakinikuyakiniku; Japanese dish of grilled meat similar to Korean barbecue
ぶたにく butanikupork

See also: Chinese symbol for “flesh”.

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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