Japanese symbol for “suburbs”
市外
しがい
Romaji: shigai
outside the city; suburbs
In Japanese, suburbs is 市外, read しがい (shigai).
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-no, n outside the city; suburbs
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “suburbs”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 野外 | やがい yagai | fields; outskirts; suburbs |
| 在 | ざい zai | outskirts; suburbs |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 都市 | とし toshi | town; city; municipal |
| 市場 | いちば ichiba | (town) market; (street) market; marketplace |
| 市民 | しみん shimin | citizen (of a country); citizenry |
| 市内 | しない shinai | in the city; within the city |
| 市長 | しちょう shichou | mayor |
| 海外 | かいがい kaigai | foreign; abroad; overseas |
| 外国 | がいこく gaikoku | foreign country |
| 以外 | いがい igai | excluding; except (for); apart from |
See also: Chinese symbol for “suburbs”.
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.