Japanese symbol for “near”
近い
ちかい
Romaji: chikai
near; close; short (distance)
In Japanese, near is 近い, read ちかい (chikai).
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
- adj-i near; close; short (distance)
- adj-i close (in time); soon
- adj-i close (relationship); friendly; intimate
- adj-i closely related
- adj-i similar; almost the same; close to; nearly
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “near”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 間近 | まぢか majika | near; close (to); nearby |
| 近く | ちかく chikaku | near; neighbourhood; neighborhood |
| 密接 | みっせつ missetsu | close (relationship, connection, etc.); intimate; near |
| 手近 | てぢか tejika | near; close by; within reach |
| 脇 | わき waki | beside; close to; near |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 最近 | さいきん saikin | recently; lately; these days |
| 近所 | きんじょ kinjo | neighbourhood; neighborhood; vicinity |
| 付近 | ふきん fukin | neighborhood; neighbourhood; vicinity |
| 近代 | きんだい kindai | present day; modern times; recent times |
| 接近 | せっきん sekkin | getting closer; drawing nearer; approaching |
See also: Chinese symbol for “near”.
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.