Japanese symbol for “gesturing”

身振り手振り

みぶりてぶり

Romaji: miburiteburi

gestures; gesturing

In Japanese, gesturing is 身振り手振り, read みぶりてぶり (miburiteburi).

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 gestures; gesturing

Written forms: 身振り手振り、身ぶり手ぶり. Readings: みぶりてぶり.

Kanji and stroke order

身

somebody, person, one's station in life

on: シン
kun: み

7 strokes · JLPT 2

振

shake, wave, wag

on: シン
kun: ふ.る、ふ.れる、ふ.るう

10 strokes · JLPT 1

手

hand

on: シュ、ズ
kun: て、て-、-て、た-

4 strokes · JLPT 4

振

shake, wave, wag

on: シン
kun: ふ.る、ふ.れる、ふ.るう

10 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
自身	じしん jishin	(one's) self; oneself; yourself
出身	しゅっしん shusshin	one's origin (e.g. city, country, parentage, school)
中身	なかみ nakami	contents; interior; filling
身長	しんちょう shinchou	height (of a person); stature
全身	ぜんしん zenshin	whole (body); full-length (e.g. portrait)
変身	へんしん henshin	metamorphosis; disguise; transformation
振り	ふり furi	swing; shake; sweep
振興	しんこう shinkou	promotion; encouragement
相手	あいて aite	companion; partner; company
振動	しんどう shindou	oscillation; vibration; swing (e.g. of a pendulum)

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.