King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “understand”

Romaji: wakaru
to understand; to comprehend; to grasp; to see

In Japanese, understand is , read (wakaru).

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. v5r, vi to understand; to comprehend; to grasp; to see; to get; to follow
  2. v5r, vi to become clear; to be known; to be discovered; to be realized (realised); to be found out; to make sense
  3. int I know!; I think so too!

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

part, minute of time, segment
on: ブン、フン、ブ
kun: わ.ける、わ.け、わ.かれる、わ.かる
4 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “understand”

WordReadingMeaning
しる shiruto understand; to comprehend; to grasp
かいする kaisuruto understand; to appreciate
とる toruto take (e.g. a joke); to interpret; to understand
こころえる kokoroeruto know; to understand; to be aware of
ききとる kikitoruto catch (someone's words); to make out; to follow

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
じぶん jibunmyself; yourself; oneself
ぶぶん bubunportion; section; part
きぶん kibunfeeling; mood
はんぶん hanbunhalf
ぶんや bun'yafield; sphere; realm
たぶん tabunprobably; likely; perhaps

See also: Chinese symbol for “understand”.

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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