Japanese symbol for “pelagic”

外洋性

がいようせい

Romaji: gaiyousei

pelagic

In Japanese, pelagic is 外洋性, read がいようせい (gaiyousei).

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-no, n pelagic

Kanji and stroke order

外

outside

on: ガイ、ゲ
kun: そと、ほか、はず.す、はず.れる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

洋

ocean, sea, foreign

on: ヨウ

9 strokes · JLPT 3

性

sex, gender, nature

on: セイ、ショウ
kun: さが

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
海外	かいがい kaigai	foreign; abroad; overseas
外国	がいこく gaikoku	foreign country
以外	いがい igai	excluding; except (for); apart from
外交	がいこう gaikou	diplomacy
意外	いがい igai	unexpected; surprising; unanticipated
外部	がいぶ gaibu	outside (e.g. of a building); exterior
西洋	せいよう seiyou	the West; the Occident; Western countries
東洋	とうよう touyou	the East; the Orient; (East) Asia
女性	じょせい josei	woman; female

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.