Japanese symbol for “vigil”

半通夜

はんつや

Romaji: hantsuya

wake; vigil (that does not last the full night)

In Japanese, vigil is 半通夜, read はんつや (hantsuya).

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 wake; vigil (that does not last the full night)

Kanji and stroke order

半

half, middle, odd number

on: ハン
kun: なか.ば

5 strokes · JLPT 4

通

traffic, pass through, avenue

on: ツウ、ツ
kun: とお.る、とお.り、-とお.り、-どお.り

10 strokes · JLPT 3

夜

night, evening

on: ヤ
kun: よ、よる

8 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
半分	はんぶん hanbun	half
後半	こうはん kouhan	second half; latter half
前半	ぜんはん zenhan	first half
大半	たいはん taihan	majority; more than half; most (of)
半年	はんとし hantoshi	half a year; six months
半ば	なかば nakaba	middle; halfway; midway
普通	ふつう futsuu	normal; ordinary; regular
通り	どおり doori	in accordance with; following
今夜	こんや kon'ya	this evening; tonight

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.