Japanese symbol for “hell”

In Japanese, hell is 一体, read いったい (ittai).

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

1. adv (what) the heck; (why) in the world; (who) on earth; (where) the hell; (how) the hell
2. n one object; one body; one unit; one group; one mass
3. n one form; one style; one format; one fashion
4. n one Buddhist image; one carving; one sculpture
5. n one corpse; one sample (of bones, remains, etc.)
6. adv generally; in general; on the whole; by and large; for the most part

Written forms: 一体、１体. Readings: いったい.

Kanji and stroke order

↻ Replay stroke order

Other Japanese words for “hell”

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

See also: Chinese symbol for “hell”.

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.