Japanese symbol for “geyser”

間欠泉

かんけつせん

Romaji: kanketsusen

geyser

In Japanese, geyser is 間欠泉, read かんけつせん (kanketsusen).

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 geyser

Written forms: 間欠泉、間歇泉、間けつ泉. Readings: かんけつせん.

Kanji and stroke order

間

interval, space

on: カン、ケン
kun: あいだ、ま、あい

12 strokes · JLPT 4

欠

lack, gap, fail

on: ケツ、ケン
kun: か.ける、か.く

4 strokes · JLPT 2

泉

spring, fountain

on: セン
kun: いずみ

9 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
時間	じかん jikan	time
人間	にんげん ningen	human being; human; person
期間	きかん kikan	period; term; interval
年間	ねんかん nenkan	(period of) a year
仲間	なかま nakama	companion; fellow; friend
間違い	まちがい machigai	mistake; error; blunder
欠陥	けっかん kekkan	defect; fault; flaw
不可欠	ふかけつ fukaketsu	indispensable; essential
温泉	おんせん onsen	hot spring

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.