King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “honeybee”

Romaji: mitsubachi
honeybee (Apis sp.); honey bee

In Japanese, honeybee is , read (mitsubachi).

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. n honeybee (Apis sp.); honey bee

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

honey, nectar, molasses
on: ミツ、ビツ
14 strokes
bee, wasp, hornet
on: ホウ
kun: はち
13 strokes

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
はちみつ hachimitsuhoney
みつげつ mitsugetsuhoneymoon
みかん mikanmandarin (esp. the satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu)); mandarin orange; tangerine
とうみつ toumitsumolasses; black treacle
みつろう mitsuroubeeswax
ほうき houkiuprising; revolt
はちのす hachinosubeehive; hive; honeycomb
ようほう youhoubeekeeping; apiculture

See also: Chinese symbol for “honeybee”.

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.

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