Japanese symbol for “holly”
柊
ひいらぎ
Romaji: hiiragi
holly olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus); false holly
In Japanese, holly is 柊, read ひいらぎ (hiiragi).
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 holly olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus); false holly
- n holly
- n spotnape ponyfish (Leiognathus nuchalis)
Written forms: 柊、疼木、柊木. Readings: ひいらぎ、ひらぎ、ヒイラギ.
Kanji and stroke order
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 西洋柊 | せいようひいらぎ seiyouhiiragi | English holly (Ilex aquifolium) |
| 柊南天 | ひいらぎなんてん hiiraginanten | Mahonia japonica; Japanese mahonia |
| 柊菜 | ひいらぎな hiiragina | mizuna (Brassica rapa var. nipposinica) |
| 柊鰯 | ひいらぎいわし hiiragiiwashi | sardine and holly charm; sardine head and holly branch placed next to the front door during setsubun to ward off demons |
See also: Chinese symbol for “holly”.
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.