Japanese symbol for “slither”

這う

はう

Romaji: hau

to crawl; to creep; to go on all fours

In Japanese, slither is 這う, read はう (hau).

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

v5u, vi to crawl; to creep; to go on all fours
v5u, vi to slither; to wriggle
v5u, vi to trail (of vines, flowers, etc.); to spread; to creep

Written forms: 這う、匍う、延う. Readings: はう.

Kanji and stroke order

這

crawl, creep, grovel

on: シャ、ゲン
kun: は.う、は.い、むか.える、この

10 strokes

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
夜這い	よばい yobai	creeping at night into a woman's bedroom; stealing into a girl's bedroom at night to make love; sneaking visit
這いずる	はいずる haizuru	to creep; to crawl
這い出す	はいだす haidasu	to crawl out; to creep out
這松	はいまつ haimatsu	Japanese stone pine (Pinus pumila); Siberian dwarf pine; creeping pine
這い這い	はいはい haihai	crawling (of a baby)

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.