Japanese symbol for “leprosy”
ハンセン病
ハンセンびょう
Romaji: hansenbyou
leprosy; Hansen's disease
In Japanese, leprosy is ハンセン病, read ハンセンびょう (hansenbyou).
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 leprosy; Hansen's disease (med)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “leprosy”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| レプラ | レプラ repura | leprosy |
| らい病 | らいびょう raibyou | leprosy |
| 癩 | らい rai | Hansen's disease; leprosy; leper |
| 天刑病 | てんけいびょう tenkeibyou | Hansen's disease; leprosy |
| ハンセン氏病 | ハンセンしびょう hansenshibyou | Hansen's disease; leprosy |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 病院 | びょういん byouin | hospital; clinic; doctor's office |
| 病気 | びょうき byouki | illness (usu. excluding minor ailments, e.g. common cold); disease; sickness |
| 病状 | びょうじょう byoujou | condition of a patient; state of a disease; pathology |
| 病人 | びょうにん byounin | sick person; patient; invalid |
| 病室 | びょうしつ byoushitsu | sickroom; hospital room; ward |
| 看病 | かんびょう kanbyou | nursing (a patient) |
See also: Chinese symbol for “leprosy”.
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.