King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “spatula”

Romaji: hera
spatula; (fabric) tracing spatula; (pottery) pallet

In Japanese, spatula is , read (hera).

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 spatula; (fabric) tracing spatula; (pottery) pallet
  2. n (artificially cultured) Japanese crucian carp

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

spatula, arrow shaft
on: ヘイ、ハイ
kun: へら、の、くし
14 strokes

Other Japanese words for “spatula”

WordReadingMeaning
カード kaadodough scraper; spatula
スパチュラ supachuraspatula; spatula knife; frosting spatula
フライがえし furaigaeshispatula; turner
かなべら kanaberaspatula; trowel
スパチュール supachuuruspatula

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
べらぼう berabouextreme; terrible; excessive
しっぺい shippeibamboo stick used to strike meditators into greater wakefulness (in Zen Buddhism)
へらさぎ herasagicommon spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
へらちょうざめ herachouzameAmerican paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)
ゴムべら gomuberarubber spatula
へらぶな herabuna(artificially cultured) Japanese crucian carp

See also: Chinese symbol for “spatula”.

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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