Japanese symbol for “motivator”

刺激剤

しげきざい

Romaji: shigekizai

stimulant; excitant; irritant

In Japanese, motivator is 刺激剤, read しげきざい (shigekizai).

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 stimulant; excitant; irritant
n motivator; stimulus; spur

Written forms: 刺激剤、刺戟剤. Readings: しげきざい.

Kanji and stroke order

刺

thorn, pierce, stab

on: シ
kun: さ.す、さ.さる、さ.し、さし

8 strokes · JLPT 2

激

violent, get excited, enraged

on: ゲキ
kun: はげ.しい

16 strokes · JLPT 1

剤

dose, medicine, drug

on: ザイ、スイ、セイ
kun: かる、けず.る

10 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
刺激	しげき shigeki	stimulus; stimulation; irritation (esp. of the body, e.g. skin, eyes)
名刺	めいし meishi	business card
刺身	さしみ sashimi	sashimi (raw sliced fish, shellfish or crustaceans)
風刺	ふうし fuushi	satire; irony; sarcasm
刺す	さす sasu	to pierce; to stab; to prick
刺さる	ささる sasaru	to stick into (of something with a sharp point); to prick; to pierce
急激	きゅうげき kyuugeki	sudden; abrupt; rapid
激しい	はげしい hageshii	violent; furious; tempestuous
洗剤	せんざい senzai	detergent; cleanser; cleaning agent

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.