Japanese symbol for “garbage”
汚物
おぶつ
Romaji: obutsu
filth (esp. excrement, feces, urine); muck; waste; garbage
In Japanese, garbage is 汚物, read おぶつ (obutsu).
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 filth (esp. excrement, feces, urine); muck; waste; garbage; dirt; dust
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “garbage”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 塵 | ごみ gomi | rubbish; trash; garbage |
| 廃品 | はいひん haihin | waste; garbage |
| 屑 | くず kuzu | waste; scrap; garbage |
| 芥 | ごもく gomoku | trash; rubbish; garbage |
| 芥 | あくた akuta | rubbish; trash; garbage |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 汚染 | おせん osen | pollution; contamination |
| 汚れ | よごれ yogore | dirt; filth; stain |
| 汚職 | おしょく oshoku | corruption (esp. by a government employee); bribery; graft |
| 汚い | きたない kitanai | dirty; filthy; foul |
| 汚れる | よごれる yogoreru | to get dirty; to become dirty |
| 動物 | どうぶつ doubutsu | animal |
| 人物 | じんぶつ jinbutsu | person; character; figure |
| 物語 | ものがたり monogatari | story; tale; narrative |
See also: Chinese symbol for “garbage”.
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.