Japanese symbol for “opacity”

不透明

ふとうめい

Romaji: futoumei

opaque; obscure; murky; turbid

In Japanese, opacity is 不透明, read ふとうめい (futoumei).

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-na opaque; obscure; murky; turbid
n opacity; obscurity
adj-na unclear; unpredictable; uncertain

Kanji and stroke order

不

negative, non-, bad

on: フ、ブ

4 strokes · JLPT 3

透

transparent, permeate, filter

on: トウ
kun: す.く、す.かす、す.ける、とう.る

10 strokes · JLPT 1

明

bright, light

on: メイ、ミョウ、ミン
kun: あ.かり、あか.るい、あか.るむ、あか.らむ

8 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “opacity”

Word	Reading	Meaning
不透明性	ふとうめいせい futoumeisei	opacity
曇度	くもりど kumorido	opacity
不透明度	ふとうめいど futoumeido	opacity
潤み	うるみ urumi	blur; moisture; opacity

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
不明	ふめい fumei	unclear; obscure; indistinct
不安	ふあん fuan	anxiety; uneasiness; worry
不足	ふそく fusoku	insufficiency; deficiency; shortage
不満	ふまん fuman	dissatisfaction; discontent; displeasure
不可能	ふかのう fukanou	impossible
不思議	ふしぎ fushigi	wonderful; marvelous; strange
透明	とうめい toumei	transparent; clear
浸透	しんとう shintou	permeation (of thought, ideology, culture, etc.); infiltration (e.g. of ideas); spread
説明	せつめい setsumei	explanation; exposition; description

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.