Japanese symbol for “ri”
里
り
Romaji: ri
Japanese league; ri; old Japanese unit of distance, approx. 3.927 km or 2.44 miles
In Japanese, ri is 里, read り (ri).
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 Japanese league; ri; old Japanese unit of distance, approx. 3.927 km or 2.44 miles
- n neighbourhood (under the ritsuryō system; orig. of 50 homes)
- n unit of area (approx. 654 m by 654 m)
Kanji and stroke order
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 千里 | せんり senri | 1000 ri; (a) long distance |
| 郷里 | きょうり kyouri | hometown; birthplace |
| 万里 | ばんり banri | great distance; thousands of miles; ten thousand ri |
| 里子 | さとご satogo | foster child |
| 里親 | さとおや satooya | foster parent; foster parents |
| 里帰り | さとがえり satogaeri | returning home to one's parents (orig. of a married person); visiting one's parents (for a prolonged period of stay) |
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.