King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “thigh”

Romaji: mata
groin; thigh; crotch; crutch

In Japanese, thigh is , read (mata).

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 groin; thigh; crotch; crutch (anat)
  2. n fork (in a tree, road, river, etc.); tines (of a fork)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

thigh, crotch
on: コ
kun: また、もも
8 strokes

Other Japanese words for “thigh”

WordReadingMeaning
ふともも futomomothigh
だいたい daitaithigh
もも momothigh
またぐら mataguracrotch; thigh; groin
じょうたい joutaithigh

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こかん kokancrotch; groin; area between the thighs
こかんせつ kokansetsuhip joint; coxa
ふたまた futamataseeing two people (i.e. romantically) at the same time; two-timing
すまた sumatabare thighs; inner thigh
うちまた uchimatainner thigh; inside of the thigh
しこ shikowrestler's ceremonial leg raising and stomping

See also: Chinese symbol for “thigh”.

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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