King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “reap”

Romaji: karu
to cut (grass, hair, etc.); to mow; to clip; to trim

In Japanese, reap is , read (karu).

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. v5r, vt to cut (grass, hair, etc.); to mow; to clip; to trim; to prune; to shear

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

reap, cut, clip
on: ガイ、カイ
kun: か.る
4 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “reap”

WordReadingMeaning
かりとる karitoruto mow; to reap; to harvest
かり karicut; clip; shear
とりいれる toriireruto harvest; to reap; to gather in
かりいれる kariireruto harvest; to reap

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
いねかり inekaririce reaping; rice harvesting
まるがり marugaribuzz cut; close crop
かりとる karitoruto mow; to reap; to harvest
くさかり kusakarimowing; mower
かりこむ karikomuto prune; to trim; to cut back

See also: Chinese symbol for “reap”.

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.