Japanese symbol for “stone”
核
かく
Romaji: kaku
stone (of a fruit); pit; pip
In Japanese, stone is 核, read かく (kaku).
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
- n stone (of a fruit); pit; pip
- n core (of an organization, team, etc.); nucleus; heart
- adj-no, n nuclear weapons
- n nucleus (of an atom) (physics)
- n nucleus (of a cell) (biol)
- n condensation nucleus (met)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “stone”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 石 | いし ishi | stone; rock; pebble |
| 石材 | せきざい sekizai | (building) stone |
| 種 | たね tane | seed (e.g. of a plant); pip; kernel |
| 石ころ | いしころ ishikoro | (small) stone; rock; pebble |
| 石造り | いしづくり ishizukuri | (made of) stone; stone-built |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 核兵器 | かくへいき kakuheiki | nuclear weapon |
| 中核 | ちゅうかく chuukaku | kernel; core; nucleus |
| 核心 | かくしん kakushin | core; heart (of the matter); point |
| 結核 | けっかく kekkaku | tuberculosis; TB |
| 核弾頭 | かくだんとう kakudantou | nuclear warhead |
| 核酸 | かくさん kakusan | nucleic acid |
See also: Chinese symbol for “stone”.
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.