King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “soar”

Romaji: tobu
to fly; to soar

In Japanese, soar is , read (tobu).

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. v5b, vi to fly; to soar
  2. v5b, vi to jump; to leap; to spring; to bound; to hop
  3. v5b, vi to spatter; to scatter; to splash; to fly (e.g. of sparks)
  4. v5b, vi to hurry; to rush
  5. v5b, vi to flee; to run off; to escape
  6. v5b, vi to disappear; to vanish; to fade; to thin out

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

fly, skip (pages), scatter
on: ヒ
kun: と.ぶ、と.ばす、-と.ばす
9 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “soar”

WordReadingMeaning
かける kakeruto soar; to fly
まいあがる maiagaruto soar; to fly high; to be whirled up
かける kakeruto soar; to fly
そびえる sobieruto rise (of a building, mountain, etc.); to tower; to soar
あまがける amagakeruto soar (esp. of spirits and gods)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ひこう hikouflight; flying; aviation
ひこうき hikoukiairplane; aeroplane; plane
ひやく hiyakuleap; jump
とばし tobashiselling or divesting in unwanted stocks; hiding bad loans
とばす tobasuto let fly; to make fly; to send flying

See also: Chinese symbol for “soar”.

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.

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