King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “petting”

Romaji: aibu
caressing; fondling; (sexual) petting

In Japanese, petting is , read (aibu).

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, vs, vt caressing; fondling; (sexual) petting

Kanji and stroke order

love, affection, favourite
on: アイ
kun: いと.しい、かな.しい、め.でる、お.しむ
13 strokes · JLPT 2
stroke, pat, smooth down
on: ブ、フ
kun: な.でる
15 strokes

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
れんあい ren'ailove; romance; tender passion
あいじょう aijoulove; affection
かわいい kawaiicute; adorable; charming
あいする aisuruto love
あいよう aiyoufavorite; favourite; habitually used
いとしい itoshiilovely; dear; beloved
なでる naderuto stroke; to caress; to brush gently
なでしこ nadeshikopink (any flower of genus Dianthus, esp. the fringed pink, Dianthus superbus)

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.