King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “nothingness”

Romaji: kyomu
nihility; nothingness

In Japanese, nothingness is , read (kyomu).

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 nihility; nothingness

Kanji and stroke order

void, emptiness, unpreparedness
on: キョ、コ
kun: むな.しい、うつ.ろ
11 strokes · JLPT 1
nothingness, none, ain't
on: ム、ブ
kun: な.い
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
けんきょ kenkyomodest; humble
きょこう kyokoufiction; fabrication; concoction
きょぎ kyogifalsehood; untruth; lie
くうきょ kuukyoemptiness; hollowness; vacancy
きょじゃく kyojakufeebleness; weakness; imbecility
むりょう muryoufree (of charge); gratuitous
むり muriunreasonable; unnatural; unjustifiable
ぶじ bujisafety; security; peace

See also: Chinese symbol for “nothingness”.

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.