Japanese symbol for “investigate”
調べる
しらべる
Romaji: shiraberu
to examine; to look up; to investigate; to check up
In Japanese, investigate is 調べる, read しらべる (shiraberu).
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
- v1, vt to examine; to look up; to investigate; to check up; to sense; to study
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “investigate”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 取り調べる | とりしらべる torishiraberu | to investigate; to examine |
| 探る | さぐる saguru | to investigate; to probe into; to spy on |
| 洗う | あらう arau | to inquire into; to investigate |
| 尋ねる | たずねる tazuneru | to search; to look for; to look into |
| 案じる | あんじる anjiru | to investigate |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 調査 | ちょうさ chousa | investigation; examination; inquiry |
| 調べ | しらべ shirabe | investigation; inspection; examination |
| 調整 | ちょうせい chousei | adjustment; regulation; coordination |
| 調子 | ちょうし choushi | tune; tone; key |
| 体調 | たいちょう taichou | physical condition; state of health; shape |
| 順調 | じゅんちょう junchou | favourable; favorable; doing well |
See also: Chinese symbol for “investigate”.
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.