Japanese symbol for “inhabiting”

生息

せいそく

Romaji: seisoku

inhabiting; living

In Japanese, inhabiting is 生息, read せいそく (seisoku).

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, vi, vs inhabiting; living

Written forms: 生息、棲息、栖息. Readings: せいそく.

Kanji and stroke order

生

life, genuine, birth

on: セイ、ショウ
kun: い.きる、い.かす、い.ける、う.まれる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

息

breath, respiration, son

on: ソク
kun: いき

10 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
生活	せいかつ seikatsu	life; living
先生	せんせい sensei	teacher; instructor; master
人生	じんせい jinsei	(one's) life
学生	がくせい gakusei	student (esp. a university student)
発生	はっせい hassei	occurrence; incidence; outbreak
誕生	たんじょう tanjou	birth (of a person); nativity
息子	むすこ musuko	son
消息	しょうそく shousoku	news (from someone); letter; contact

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.