Japanese symbol for “slaying”

斬殺

ざんさつ

Romaji: zansatsu

killing with a sword (knife, dagger, etc.); slaying; putting to the sword

In Japanese, slaying is 斬殺, read ざんさつ (zansatsu).

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, vs, vt killing with a sword (knife, dagger, etc.); slaying; putting to the sword

Kanji and stroke order

斬

beheading, kill, murder

on: ザン、サン、セン、ゼン
kun: き.る

11 strokes

殺

kill, murder, butcher

on: サツ、サイ、セツ
kun: ころ.す、-ごろ.し、そ.ぐ、あや.める

10 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
斬新	ざんしん zanshin	novel; original; new
斬る	きる kiru	to kill (a human) using a blade (sword, machete, knife, etc.); to slice (off); to lop (off)
斬首	ざんしゅ zanshu	decapitation
辻斬り	つじぎり tsujigiri	attacking a passerby with a sword (to test its sharpness or one's skill); samurai who tries out his sword on a passerby
試し斬り	ためしぎり tameshigiri	trying out a new sword or blade (originally on someone, but now on soaked straw targets)
殺人	さつじん satsujin	murder; homicide; manslaughter
自殺	じさつ jisatsu	suicide
殺す	ころす korosu	to kill; to slay; to murder

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.