King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “minnow”

Romaji: haya
minnow; shinner

In Japanese, minnow is , read (haya).

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 minnow; shinner

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

dace (carp), (kokuji)
on: カイ、ゲ、ガイ
kun: はえ、はや
17 strokes

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
あぶらはや aburahayaAmur minnow (Phoxinus lagowskii steindachneri)
たかはや takahayaChinese minnow (Phoxinus oxycephalus)

See also: Chinese symbol for “minnow”.

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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