King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “lacquer”

Romaji: nuru
to paint; to spread; to plaster; to apply (cream, lotion)

In Japanese, lacquer is , read (nuru).

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. v5r, vt to paint; to spread; to plaster; to apply (cream, lotion); to smear; to lacquer

Kanji and stroke order

paint, plaster, daub
on: ト
kun: ぬ.る、ぬ.り、まみ.れる
13 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “lacquer”

WordReadingMeaning
ラッカー rakkaalacquer

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
とそう tosoucoating; painting
とりょう toryoupaint; coating; varnish
とふ tofuapplication (of ointment, etc.)
ぬり nuricoating (esp. lacquering)

See also: Chinese symbol for “lacquer”.

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.