Japanese symbol for “haystack”

干し草の山

ほしくさのやま

Romaji: hoshikusanoyama

haystack; hay bale

In Japanese, haystack is 干し草の山, read ほしくさのやま (hoshikusanoyama).

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

exp, n haystack; hay bale

Kanji and stroke order

干

dry, parch, ebb

on: カン
kun: ほ.す、ほ.し-、-ぼ.し、ひ.る

3 strokes · JLPT 2

草

grass, weeds, herbs

on: ソウ
kun: くさ、くさ-、-ぐさ

9 strokes · JLPT 2

山

mountain

on: サン、セン
kun: やま

3 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
若干	じゃっかん jakkan	some; few; a number of
干渉	かんしょう kanshou	interference; intervention; meddling
梅干し	うめぼし umeboshi	umeboshi; pickled dried ume; pickled dried plum
干す	ほす hosu	to air; to dry; to desiccate
干潟	ひがた higata	tidal flat; tideland
物干し	ものほし monohoshi	frame for drying clothes; clotheshorse
煙草	タバコ tabako	tobacco; cigarette; cigar
草原	そうげん sougen	grassy field; grassland; meadow
登山	とざん tozan	mountain climbing; mountaineering; ascent of a mountain

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.