Japanese symbol for “hardships”
辛酸
しんさん
Romaji: shinsan
hardships; privation
In Japanese, hardships is 辛酸, read しんさん (shinsan).
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 hardships; privation
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “hardships”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 荒波 | あらなみ aranami | hardships; troubles; adversities |
| 艱難 | かんなん kannan | hardships; privations; difficulties |
| 波風 | なみかぜ namikaze | hardships |
| 風雪 | ふうせつ fuusetsu | hardships |
| 艱難辛苦 | かんなんしんく kannanshinku | trial and tribulation; hardships; privations |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 辛い | からい karai | spicy; hot |
| 辛口 | からくち karakuchi | dry taste (e.g. sake, wine) |
| 香辛料 | こうしんりょう koushinryou | spice; spices; condiment |
| 辛抱 | しんぼう shinbou | patience; endurance; perseverance |
| 唐辛子 | とうがらし tougarashi | capsicum (Capsicum annuum, esp. the cultivated chili peppers); chili pepper (chile, chilli); cayenne |
| 酸素 | さんそ sanso | oxygen (O) |
| 酸化 | さんか sanka | oxidation; oxidization |
| 炭酸 | たんさん tansan | carbonic acid |
See also: Chinese symbol for “hardships”.
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.