King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “stimulus”

Romaji: shigeki
stimulus; stimulation; irritation (esp. of the body, e.g. skin, eyes)

In Japanese, stimulus is , read (shigeki).

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, vs, vt stimulus; stimulation; irritation (esp. of the body, e.g. skin, eyes)
  2. n, vs, vt impetus; impulse; stimulus; spur; incentive; encouragement
  3. n, vs, vt excitement; thrill

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

thorn, pierce, stab
on: シ
kun: さ.す、さ.さる、さ.し、さし
8 strokes · JLPT 2
violent, get excited, enraged
on: ゲキ
kun: はげ.しい
16 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “stimulus”

WordReadingMeaning
はげみ hagemiencouragement; incentive; stimulus
はずみ hazumimomentum; impetus; impulse
れいしん reishinexcitation (drive); stimulus
さそいみず sasoimizucause; impetus; spark
カンフル kanfurushot in the arm; stimulus; impetus

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
めいし meishibusiness card
さしみ sashimisashimi (raw sliced fish, shellfish or crustaceans)
ふうし fuushisatire; irony; sarcasm
さす sasuto pierce; to stab; to prick
ささる sasaruto stick into (of something with a sharp point); to prick; to pierce
きゅうげき kyuugekisudden; abrupt; rapid
はげしい hageshiiviolent; furious; tempestuous
かんげき kangekideep emotion; impression; inspiration

See also: Chinese symbol for “stimulus”.

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.