King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “mutation”

Romaji: henka
change; variation; alteration; mutation

In Japanese, mutation is , read (henka).

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, vi, vs change; variation; alteration; mutation; transition; transformation
  2. n variety; diversity
  3. n, vi, vs inflection; declension; conjugation (gramm)
  4. n, vi, vs henka; evasive sidestep at the beginning of a bout (sumo)

Kanji and stroke order

unusual, change, strange
on: ヘン
kun: か.わる、か.わり、か.える
9 strokes · JLPT 2
change, take the form of, influence
on: カ、ケ
kun: ば.ける、ば.かす、ふ.ける、け.する
4 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “mutation”

WordReadingMeaning
とつぜんへんい totsuzenhen'imutation
へんてん hentenmutation; change; transition
へんい hen'imutation
へんい hen'ichange; alteration; transmutation
てんぺん tenpenmutation; change; vicissitude

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
たいへん taihenvery; greatly; terribly
へんこう henkouchange; modification; alteration
かわる kawaruto change; to be transformed; to be altered
へんどう hendouchange; fluctuation
へんしん henshinmetamorphosis; disguise; transformation
ぶんか bunkaculture; civilization; civilisation
きょうか kyoukastrengthening; intensifying; reinforcement
あっか akkadeterioration; getting worse; worsening

See also: Chinese symbol for “mutation”.

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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