King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “spiral”

Romaji: rasen
spiral; helix

In Japanese, spiral is , read (rasen).

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 spiral; helix
  2. n screw

Kanji and stroke order

small, edible, helical fresh-water mollusk
on: ラ
kun: にし、にな
17 strokes
rotation, go around
on: セン
kun: め.ぐる、いばり
11 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “spiral”

WordReadingMeaning
スパイラル supairaruspiral
うずまき uzumakispiral (shape, pattern)
ループ ruupuspiral; spiral loop
かじょう kajouspiral
うずまきがた uzumakigataspiral (shape); swirl

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ねじ nejiscrew
らでん radennacre; mother of pearl
ほら horaboasting; bragging; big talk
さざえ sazaeturban shell (any mollusc of the family Turbinidae, esp. the horned turban, Turbo cornutus)
せんかい senkairevolution; rotation; turning
せんりつ senritsumelody; tune
あっせん assengood offices; kind offices; services
せんぷう senpuuwhirlwind

See also: Chinese symbol for “spiral”.

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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