King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “tube”

Romaji: kan
pipe; tube

In Japanese, tube is , read (kan).

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 pipe; tube
  2. n wind instrument
  3. n vessel; duct; tract; canal (anat)
  4. ctr counter for tube-shaped objects

Kanji and stroke order

pipe, tube, wind instrument
on: カン
kun: くだ
14 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “tube”

WordReadingMeaning
つつ tsutsupipe; tube; cylinder
チューブ chuubutube
パイプ paipupipe; tube
とう toupipe; tube

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かんり kanricontrol; management (e.g. of a business)
ほかん hokancharge; custody; safekeeping
けっかん kekkanblood vessel; vein
かんかつ kankatsujurisdiction; control
かんせい kanseicontrol (by the state); controlling; coordination
はいかん haikanplumbing; piping

See also: Chinese symbol for “tube”.

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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