Japanese symbol for “woes”
災い
わざわい
Romaji: wazawai
disaster; calamity; misfortune; trouble
In Japanese, woes is 災い, read わざわい (wazawai).
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 disaster; calamity; misfortune; trouble; woes
Written forms: 災い、禍、殃. Readings: わざわい.
Kanji and stroke order
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 災害 | さいがい saigai | calamity; disaster; misfortune |
| 火災 | かさい kasai | conflagration; fire |
| 防災 | ぼうさい bousai | disaster preparedness; prevention of damage resulting from a natural disaster; protection against disaster |
| 震災 | しんさい shinsai | earthquake disaster |
| 被災 | ひさい hisai | suffering (from a disaster); being hit (by an earthquake, typhoon, etc.); falling victim (to) |
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.