Japanese symbol for “strange”
変
へん
Romaji: hen
strange; odd; peculiar; weird
In Japanese, strange is 変, read へん (hen).
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
- adj-na strange; odd; peculiar; weird; curious; eccentric
- adj-na unexpected
- n change
- n incident; disturbance; disaster; accident; emergency
- n-pref flat (music)
Written forms: 変、變. Readings: へん、ヘン.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “strange”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 妙 | みょう myou | strange; weird; odd |
| 奇妙 | きみょう kimyou | strange; odd; peculiar |
| 意外 | いがい igai | unexpected; surprising; unanticipated |
| 不思議 | ふしぎ fushigi | wonderful; marvelous; strange |
| 異様 | いよう iyou | strange; odd; peculiar |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大変 | たいへん taihen | very; greatly; terribly |
| 変更 | へんこう henkou | change; modification; alteration |
| 変化 | へんか henka | change; variation; alteration |
| 変わる | かわる kawaru | to change; to be transformed; to be altered |
| 変動 | へんどう hendou | change; fluctuation |
| 変身 | へんしん henshin | metamorphosis; disguise; transformation |
See also: Chinese symbol for “strange”.
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.