Japanese symbol for “hell”
一体
いったい
Romaji: ittai
(what) the heck; (why) in the world; (who) on earth; (where) the 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
- adv (what) the heck; (why) in the world; (who) on earth; (where) the hell; (how) the hell
- n one object; one body; one unit; one group; one mass
- n one form; one style; one format; one fashion
- n one Buddhist image; one carving; one sculpture
- n one corpse; one sample (of bones, remains, etc.)
- 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
Other Japanese words for “hell”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 地獄 | じごく jigoku | Hell |
| ヘル | ヘル heru | hell |
| 黄泉 | よみ yomi | Hades; hell; underworld |
| 奈落 | ならく naraku | Naraka; Hell; Hades |
| インフェルノ | インフェルノ inferuno | inferno; hell |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一緒 | いっしょ issho | (doing) together |
| 一番 | いちばん ichiban | number one; first; first place |
| 一つ | ひとつ hitotsu | one |
| 一般 | いっぱん ippan | general; universal |
| 一部 | いちぶ ichibu | one part; one portion; one section |
| 一方 | いっぽう ippou | one (esp. of two); the other; one way |
| 全体 | ぜんたい zentai | whole; entirety |
| 団体 | だんたい dantai | group; party; team |
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.