Japanese symbol for “gaze”
目線
めせん
Romaji: mesen
(one's) gaze; line of sight; direction in which one is looking
In Japanese, gaze is 目線, read めせん (mesen).
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 (one's) gaze; line of sight; direction in which one is looking
- n point of view; standpoint
- n line covering someone's eyes (to obscure their identity); eye censor bar; black bar
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “gaze”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 見つめる | みつめる mitsumeru | to stare (at); to gaze (at); to look hard (at) |
| 視線 | しせん shisen | one's line of sight; one's gaze; one's eyes (looking) |
| 目 | め me | look; stare; gaze |
| 凝視 | ぎょうし gyoushi | stare; gaze; fixation |
| 見入る | みいる miiru | to gaze (at); to stare intently (at); to look fixedly (at) |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 目的 | もくてき mokuteki | purpose; goal; aim |
| 目標 | もくひょう mokuhyou | goal; target; aim |
| 注目 | ちゅうもく chuumoku | notice; attention; observation |
| 項目 | こうもく koumoku | item; heading; category |
| 目撃 | もくげき mokugeki | witnessing; observing; sighting |
| 駄目 | だめ dame | no good; not serving its purpose; useless |
| 新幹線 | しんかんせん shinkansen | Shinkansen; bullet train |
| 無線 | むせん musen | radio (communication) |
See also: Chinese symbol for “gaze”.
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.