King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “seaside”

Romaji: kaigan
seashore; coast; seaside; waterfront

In Japanese, seaside is , read (kaigan).

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 seashore; coast; seaside; waterfront; beach

Kanji and stroke order

sea, ocean
on: カイ
kun: うみ
9 strokes · JLPT 3
beach
on: ガン
kun: きし
8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “seaside”

WordReadingMeaning
うみべ umibebeach; seashore; seaside
りんかい rinkaicoastal; seaside; oceanfront
かいひん kaihinseashore; seaside; beach
うみぞい umizoiseaside; seashore; coast
シーサイド shiisaidoseaside

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かいがい kaigaiforeign; abroad; overseas
かいぐん kaigunnavy; naval force
ほっかいどう hokkaidouHokkaido (island, prefectural-level administrative unit)
かいじょう kaijou(on the) sea; surface of the sea
かいよう kaiyouocean; sea
えんがん engancoast; shore
わんがん wangangulf coast; bay coast
ひがん higanequinoctial week (when Buddhist services are held)

See also: Chinese symbol for “seaside”.

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.