Japanese symbol for “gnat”

蚋

ぶゆ

Romaji: buyu

black fly (any insect of family Simuliidae); gnat

In Japanese, gnat is 蚋, read ぶゆ (buyu).

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 black fly (any insect of family Simuliidae); gnat

Written forms: 蚋、蟆子、蟆. Readings: ぶゆ、ぶよ、ぶと、ブユ.

Kanji and stroke order

蚋

gnat, sand fly

on: ゼイ、ネイ、ゼツ、ネチ
kun: ぶゆ、ぶよ、ぶと、か

10 strokes

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.