Japanese symbol for “sandpiper”
鷸
しぎ
Romaji: shigi
sandpiper (any bird of family Scolopacidae, incl. the curlews, godwits, phalaropes, redshanks, ruff, snipes, turnstones, and woodcocks)
In Japanese, sandpiper is 鷸, read しぎ (shigi).
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 sandpiper (any bird of family Scolopacidae, incl. the curlews, godwits, phalaropes, redshanks, ruff, snipes, turnstones, and woodcocks)
Written forms: 鷸、鴫. Readings: しぎ、シギ.
Kanji and stroke order
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 磯鷸 | いそしぎ isoshigi | common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) |
| 大地鷸 | おおじしぎ oojishigi | Latham's snipe (Gallinago hardwickii) |
| 中杓鷸 | ちゅうしゃくしぎ chuushakushigi | whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) |
| 大杓鷸 | だいしゃくしぎ daishakushigi | Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) |
| 黄脚鷸 | きあししぎ kiashishigi | grey-tailed tattler (Heteroscelus brevipes) |
| 田鷸 | たしぎ tashigi | common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) |
See also: Chinese symbol for “sandpiper”.
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.