Japanese symbol for “photography”
撮影
さつえい
Romaji: satsuei
photography (still or motion); photographing; filming; shooting
In Japanese, photography is 撮影, read さつえい (satsuei).
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, vs, vt photography (still or motion); photographing; filming; shooting; (video) recording
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “photography”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 写真 | しゃしん shashin | photograph; photo; picture |
| 写真撮影 | しゃしんさつえい shashinsatsuei | photography; taking photographs |
| 写真術 | しゃしんじゅつ shashinjutsu | photography; photographic art |
| フォトグラフィー | フォトグラフィー fotogurafii | photography |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 撮る | とる toru | to take (a photograph) |
| 特撮 | とくさつ tokusatsu | special effects; SFX |
| 撮り | どり dori | takes (e.g. of photographs); exposures |
| 撮れる | とれる toreru | to be taken (of a photograph) |
| 撮像 | さつぞう satsuzou | taking a picture; taking an image; imaging |
| 影響 | えいきょう eikyou | influence; effect; impact |
| 面影 | おもかげ omokage | face; looks; countenance |
| 幻影 | げんえい gen'ei | phantom; vision; illusion |
See also: Chinese symbol for “photography”.
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.