Japanese symbol for “paintbrush”
筆
ふで
Romaji: fude
writing brush; paintbrush; pen
In Japanese, paintbrush is 筆, read ふで (fude).
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 writing brush; paintbrush; pen
- n writing with a brush; drawing with a brush; penmanship; something drawn with a brush
- n writing (composing text); the written word
- ctr (land) lot; plot
Written forms: 筆. Readings: ふで、ひつ.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “paintbrush”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 絵筆 | えふで efude | paintbrush |
| 塗り刷毛 | ぬりばけ nuribake | paintbrush; lacquer brush; pastry brush |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 執筆 | しっぴつ shippitsu | writing; authoring |
| 鉛筆 | えんぴつ enpitsu | (wooden) pencil |
| 筆者 | ひっしゃ hissha | writer; author |
| 筆記 | ひっき hikki | writing down; taking notes; copying |
| 筆頭 | ひっとう hittou | brush tip |
| 万年筆 | まんねんひつ mannenhitsu | fountain pen |
See also: Chinese symbol for “paintbrush”.
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.