Japanese symbol for “sleepover”

外泊

がいはく

Romaji: gaihaku

staying somewhere else (overnight); spending the night away (e.g. from home); going home (e.g. from hospital) for the night; sleepover

In Japanese, sleepover is 外泊, read がいはく (gaihaku).

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, vi, vs staying somewhere else (overnight); spending the night away (e.g. from home); going home (e.g. from hospital) for the night; sleepover

Kanji and stroke order

外

outside

on: ガイ、ゲ
kun: そと、ほか、はず.す、はず.れる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

泊

overnight stay, put up at, ride at anchor

on: ハク
kun: と.まる、と.める

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “sleepover”

Word	Reading	Meaning
お泊り会	おとまりかい otomarikai	sleepover; slumber party

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
海外	かいがい kaigai	foreign; abroad; overseas
外国	がいこく gaikoku	foreign country
以外	いがい igai	excluding; except (for); apart from
外交	がいこう gaikou	diplomacy
意外	いがい igai	unexpected; surprising; unanticipated
外部	がいぶ gaibu	outside (e.g. of a building); exterior
宿泊	しゅくはく shukuhaku	accommodation; lodging
泊まる	とまる tomaru	to stay at (e.g. hotel)

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.