King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “spirits”

Romaji: kigen
humour; humor; temper; mood

In Japanese, spirits is , read (kigen).

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 humour; humor; temper; mood; spirits
  2. n safety; health; well-being; one's situation
  3. adj-na in a good mood; in high spirits; happy; cheery; merry; chipper

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

loom, mechanism, machine
on: キ
kun: はた
16 strokes · JLPT 2
dislike, detest, hate
on: ケン、ゲン
kun: きら.う、きら.い、いや
13 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “spirits”

WordReadingMeaning
テンション tenshonspirits; excitement; energy level
いせい iseispirits; vigor; vigour
スピリッツ supirittsuspirits (distilled beverage)
しんき shinkispirits; mind
かしゅ kashudistilled liquor; spirits; hard liquor

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きのう kinoufunction; facility; faculty
きかん kikanengine
きかい kikaichance; opportunity; occasion
きかい kikaimachine; mechanism
きき kikicrisis; critical situation; emergency
きこう kikoumechanism; machinery
きらい kiraidisliking; hating; detesting
きらう kirauto hate; to dislike; to loathe

See also: Chinese symbol for “spirits”.

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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