King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “pigeon”

Romaji: hato
pigeon; dove

In Japanese, pigeon is , read (hato).

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 pigeon; dove

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

pigeon, dove
on: キュウ、ク
kun: はと、あつ.める
13 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “pigeon”

WordReadingMeaning
ピジョン pijonpigeon
はとぽっぽ hatopoppopigeon; dove
ぽっぽ poppopigeon; dove

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
いかる ikaruJapanese grosbeak (Eophona personata)
でんしょばと denshobatocarrier pigeon; homing pigeon
はとどけい hatodokeicuckoo clock
みぞおち mizoochipit of the stomach; solar plexus

See also: Chinese symbol for “pigeon”.

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.