King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “riddle”

Romaji: nazo
riddle; puzzle; enigma; mystery

In Japanese, riddle is , read (nazo).

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 riddle; puzzle; enigma; mystery
  2. adj-no enigmatic; mysterious

Kanji and stroke order

riddle, puzzle, enigma
on: メイ、ベイ
kun: なぞ
16 strokes

Other Japanese words for “riddle”

WordReadingMeaning
なぞなぞ nazonazoriddle; puzzle; enigma
あてもの atemonoriddle; guessing (game)
はんじもの hanjimonopuzzle; riddle
ふるう furuuto sieve (e.g. flour); to sift; to riddle
かんがえもの kangaemonopuzzle; riddle

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
なぞなぞ nazonazoriddle; puzzle; enigma
なぞとき nazotokisolving a riddle; solving a mystery
なぞめく nazomekuto be enigmatic; to be puzzling; to be wrapped in mystery
なぞかけ nazokaketelling a riddle
なぞをとく nazootokuto solve a mystery
なぞい nazoimystifying; puzzling; perplexing

See also: Chinese symbol for “riddle”.

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.

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