Japanese symbol for “upheaval”
激動
げきどう
Romaji: gekidou
violent shock; agitation; turbulence; turmoil
In Japanese, upheaval is 激動, read げきどう (gekidou).
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 violent shock; agitation; turbulence; turmoil; upheaval; excitement
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “upheaval”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 変革 | へんかく henkaku | change; transformation; reform |
| 動乱 | どうらん douran | disturbance; upheaval; unrest |
| 激変 | げきへん gekihen | sudden change; upheaval |
| 押し上げ | おしあげ oshiage | upheaval; upthrust; uplift |
| 隆起 | りゅうき ryuuki | rise; uplift; upheaval |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 刺激 | しげき shigeki | stimulus; stimulation; irritation (esp. of the body, e.g. skin, eyes) |
| 急激 | きゅうげき kyuugeki | sudden; abrupt; rapid |
| 激しい | はげしい hageshii | violent; furious; tempestuous |
| 感激 | かんげき kangeki | deep emotion; impression; inspiration |
| 過激 | かげき kageki | extreme (measure, idea, etc.); radical; violent (language) |
| 激励 | げきれい gekirei | encouragement; spurring (on); cheering (on) |
| 活動 | かつどう katsudou | activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation |
| 行動 | こうどう koudou | action; conduct; behaviour |
See also: Chinese symbol for “upheaval”.
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.