Japanese symbol for “plants”

草木

くさき

Romaji: kusaki

plants; vegetation

In Japanese, plants is 草木, read くさき (kusaki).

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 plants; vegetation

Written forms: 草木. Readings: くさき、そうもく.

Kanji and stroke order

草

grass, weeds, herbs

on: ソウ
kun: くさ、くさ-、-ぐさ

9 strokes · JLPT 2

木

tree, wood

on: ボク、モク
kun: き、こ-

4 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “plants”

Word	Reading	Meaning
本草	ほんぞう honzou	plants; medicinal herbs

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
煙草	タバコ tabako	tobacco; cigarette; cigar
草原	そうげん sougen	grassy field; grassland; meadow
雑草	ざっそう zassou	weed
草食	そうしょく soushoku	herbivorous; plant-eating; graminivorous
草案	そうあん souan	draft (for a speech, bill, etc.)
木材	もくざい mokuzai	lumber; timber; wood
木造	もくぞう mokuzou	wooden; made of wood; wooden construction
木曜	もくよう mokuyou	Thursday

See also: Chinese symbol for “plants”.

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.