Japanese symbol for “tunnelling”

掘進

くっしん

Romaji: kusshin

tunnelling (through); excavation; drilling; boring

In Japanese, tunnelling is 掘進, read くっしん (kusshin).

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, vi, vs tunnelling (through); excavation; drilling; boring

Kanji and stroke order

掘

dig, delve, excavate

on: クツ
kun: ほ.る

11 strokes · JLPT 2

進

advance, proceed, progress

on: シン
kun: すす.む、すす.める

11 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
発掘	はっくつ hakkutsu	excavation; exhumation; digging up
掘る	ほる horu	to dig; to excavate; to hollow
採掘	さいくつ saikutsu	mining; digging; working (a mine)
掘削	くっさく kussaku	digging out; excavation
盗掘	とうくつ toukutsu	illegal digging; illegal mining; grave robbing
試掘	しくつ shikutsu	prospecting; trial digging
推進	すいしん suishin	propulsion; drive
進行	しんこう shinkou	moving forward (e.g. of a vehicle); onward movement

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.