Japanese symbol for “yea”

然り

しかり

Romaji: shikari

yes; yea; aye; affirmative

In Japanese, yea is 然り, read しかり (shikari).

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

int yes; yea; aye; affirmative
vi, vr to be so

Written forms: 然り、爾り. Readings: しかり.

Kanji and stroke order

然

sort of thing, so, if so

on: ゼン、ネン
kun: しか、しか.り、しか.し、さ

12 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
自然	しぜん shizen	nature
当然	とうぜん touzen	natural; right; proper
全然	ぜんぜん zenzen	(not) at all; (not) in the slightest
突然	とつぜん totsuzen	abrupt; sudden; unexpected
天然	てんねん tennen	nature; spontaneity
偶然	ぐうぜん guuzen	coincidence; chance; accident

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.