Japanese symbol for “riverboat”
川舟
かわぶね
Romaji: kawabune
riverboat; rivercraft
In Japanese, riverboat is 川舟, read かわぶね (kawabune).
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 riverboat; rivercraft
Written forms: 川舟、川船、河船. Readings: かわぶね、かせん.
Kanji and stroke order
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小川 | おがわ ogawa | stream; brook; creek |
| 河川 | かせん kasen | rivers |
| 川上 | かわかみ kawakami | upper reaches of a river; upstream |
| 谷川 | たにがわ tanigawa | mountain stream |
| 川柳 | せんりゅう senryuu | senryū; comic haiku; humorous seventeen-mora poem |
| 川岸 | かわぎし kawagishi | riverbank; riverside |
| 小舟 | こぶね kobune | small boat |
| 呉越同舟 | ごえつどうしゅう goetsudoushuu | bitter enemies in the same boat; rivals finding themselves together by chance; strange bedfellows |
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.