Japanese symbol for “pitfall”
落とし穴
おとしあな
Romaji: otoshiana
pitfall; trap; pit
In Japanese, pitfall is 落とし穴, read おとしあな (otoshiana).
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 pitfall; trap; pit
Written forms: 落とし穴、落し穴、おとし穴、陥し穴. Readings: おとしあな.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “pitfall”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 地雷 | じらい jirai | something that seems fine at first but turns out to be very bad (e.g. product, business); booby trap; pitfall |
| 陥穽 | かんせい kansei | trap; pitfall |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 落ちる | おちる ochiru | to fall; to drop; to come down |
| 落ち | おち ochi | slip; omission |
| 墜落 | ついらく tsuiraku | fall; crash (of an aircraft) |
| 落とす | おとす otosu | to drop; to lose; to let fall |
| 落語 | らくご rakugo | rakugo; traditional Japanese comic storytelling; comic story (told by a professional storyteller) |
| 落下 | らっか rakka | fall; drop; descent |
| 墓穴 | ぼけつ boketsu | grave (pit) |
| 穴埋め | あなうめ anaume | filling (up) a hole |
See also: Chinese symbol for “pitfall”.
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.