Peace in Japanese is 平和 (heiwa), and it takes two characters rather than one. 平 means flat or level. 和 means harmony or accord. Together they describe things settled and level, which in practice means the absence of war. There is no single kanji that carries the English word “peace” on its own.
Peace in Japanese
The word is 平和 (heiwa), thirteen strokes across two kanji, used for peace between nations and peace as a public condition. The single character 和 (wa), eight strokes, is the one people usually see on its own, but it means harmony rather than peace, and it also signals “Japanese style.”
The Kanji for Peace: 平和
平 (level, flat)
- On’yomi: ヘイ (hei), ビョウ (byou)
- Kun’yomi: たい(ら) (taira), ひら (hira)
- Stroke count: 5
- Radical: 干 (kan), radical 51
和 (harmony, accord)
- On’yomi: ワ (wa), オ (o)
- Kun’yomi: やわ(らぐ) (yawaragu), なご(む) (nagomu)
- Stroke count: 8
- Radical: 口 (mouth), radical 30, though the 禾 element on the left is what the eye lands on first
Together: 平和 (heiwa), 13 strokes in total, meaning peace in the civic and political sense.
Japanese Symbol for Peace
和 is the character doing the emotional work. On the left is 禾, a stalk of grain bending under its own weight. On the right is 口, a mouth. Grain and mouth: people fed, and therefore people at ease with one another. The traditional reading of the character is exactly that, accord that comes from enough rather than from agreement.
平 is a shape rather than a story. A horizontal bar, a vertical axis dropped through it, and two short strokes balanced on either side of that axis. The character looks level because it is built level, and that is the sense it carries into every word it joins: 平日 (heijitsu) is an ordinary weekday, 平等 (byoudou) is equality, things set at the same height.
How to Write Peace in Japanese
平 takes five strokes and finishes with its spine. Write the top horizontal first. Then the two short strokes below it, left before right, with the right one sitting fractionally higher. Then the second horizontal, drawn with a slight upward curve. The vertical comes last, straight down the middle, and it is the axis the whole character hangs from.
和 takes eight and divides left to right. The 禾 element comes first in five strokes: the short diagonal at the top, the horizontal, the vertical stem, then the two strokes at the base, the right one compressed into a dot so it does not crowd what follows. Then 口 in three strokes on the right, sitting slightly low rather than centered.
How to Say Peace in Japanese
平和 is “hay-wah,” with the first syllable held for two beats: he-i-wa. There is no stress hammer on either half. 和 alone is simply “wah.” The kun readings soften the character: 和む (nagomu) is “nah-goh-moo,” to be soothed, and 和らぐ (yawaragu) is “yah-wah-rah-goo,” to ease off.
Five sentences you can use:
- 世界が平和でありますように。(Sekai ga heiwa de arimasu you ni.) May the world be at peace.
- 平和な一日でした。(Heiwa na ichinichi deshita.) It was a peaceful day.
- 平和を守りたい。(Heiwa o mamoritai.) I want to protect the peace.
- この音楽を聞くと心が和みます。(Kono ongaku o kiku to kokoro ga nagomimasu.) Listening to this music puts me at ease.
- 和食が好きです。(Washoku ga suki desu.) I like Japanese food.
Words and Compounds With 平 and 和
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 平和 | heiwa | peace |
| 世界平和 | sekai heiwa | world peace |
| 調和 | chouwa | harmony, balance |
| 和解 | wakai | reconciliation, legal settlement |
| 和食 | washoku | Japanese cuisine |
| 和室 | washitsu | a tatami room |
| 平日 | heijitsu | a weekday |
| 平等 | byoudou | equality |
That table shows the split clearly. 平和 and 世界平和 are public words. 調和 and 和解 are relational. And 和食, 和室, 和服 (wafuku, traditional dress), 和紙 (washi, handmade paper) use 和 in a completely different job: it is the native-register word for “Japanese,” as opposed to imported. A lone 和 therefore reads as harmony, and faintly as Japanese style.
Peace in Japanese Culture
平和 is a load-bearing word in postwar Japan. Article 9 of the 1947 constitution, in force since 3 May 1947, has the Japanese people “forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation,” which is why the document is widely called the 平和憲法, the Peace Constitution. Argument over that article has run for nearly eighty years and has never gone quiet.
Hiroshima built the word into its geography. The 広島平和記念公園 (Hiroshima Heiwa Kinen Kouen), laid out from 1955 on the flattened city center to a design by Kenzo Tange, holds the museum, the cenotaph, and a Peace Bell visitors are invited to ring.
The character also names eras. 平成 (Heisei), 1989 to 2019, joins 平 with 成 (to become) and is usually glossed as achieving peace. Its successor 令和 (Reiwa), from May 2019, keeps 和 and takes its source from the Man’yoshu, Japan’s oldest poetry anthology, rather than from Chinese classics. Two consecutive era names built on peace and harmony is not an accident.
For inner peace, Japanese goes elsewhere entirely. 安らぎ (yasuragi) is the ease that settles in the chest. 静けさ (shizukesa) is quiet. Both sit closer to what people usually mean, and both belong to the same family of ideas as wabi-sabi and zen practice.
The Peace Kanji as a Tattoo
Two honest options, and the choice depends on what you actually mean.
平和 (heiwa), stacked vertically, says peace and only peace. Thirteen strokes across two characters gives a balanced column, and the meaning is unambiguous to any Japanese reader. The downside is that it reads civic and slightly formal, like something printed on a memorial.
和 (wa) alone is the far more common single-character choice, and it is a good one as long as you know it says harmony. Eight strokes, well balanced, with 禾 on the left and 口 on the right. Nobody will misread it. They simply will not read “peace.”
Avoid the shortcut of picking 平 alone. By itself it means flat, level, or ordinary, as in 平日 (heijitsu, a weekday) and 平社員 (hirashain, a rank-and-file employee). It is not half of peace in any usable sense.
One cross-language note: Chinese reverses the order. The Chinese word for peace is 和平 (héping), while 平和 in Chinese means mild or gentle. If your reference image came from a Chinese source, check which order you are looking at. Confirm with a native speaker before you ink.
Compare both layouts in the Japanese Tattoo Generator, and see the wider symbol set in our guide to japanese tattoo meanings.
Related Kanji
FAQ
How do you say peace in Japanese?
Peace is 平和, pronounced heiwa, roughly “hay-wah” with the first half held for two beats. It is the ordinary word in news, politics, and conversation: 世界平和 (sekai heiwa) is world peace. There is no shorter native word, so 平和 is what you want in almost every case.
What is the Japanese symbol for peace?
The symbol is 平和, two characters. If you need one, people use 和 (wa), built from 禾 (grain) and 口 (mouth), meaning harmony. Grain plus mouth is the traditional reading: people fed, and therefore at ease with each other. It is the most common single-character stand-in for peace.
What is the kanji for peace?
Peace in Japanese is 平和 (heiwa), written with two kanji: 平 (level, 5 strokes) and 和 (harmony, 8 strokes). No single character carries the full meaning of the English word peace. 和 on its own means harmony and also functions as the word for “Japanese” in 和食 and 和室.
How many strokes does 平和 have?
Thirteen in total: 5 for 平 and 8 for 和. 平 is written with the vertical axis last, and 和 is written left to right, the five strokes of 禾 before the three of 口. Both are taught in Japanese primary school and appear constantly in ordinary text.
Can I just use 和 for a peace tattoo?
You can, but it means harmony rather than peace, and it also signals Japanese style in words like 和食 and 和室. It is a strong, balanced single character as long as harmony is the meaning you want. If you specifically mean peace, write both characters, 平和.
What is the kanji for inner peace?
There is no single kanji. 安らぎ (yasuragi) is inner ease, 静けさ (shizukesa) is quiet, and 心の平和 (kokoro no heiwa) is literally peace of the heart. Most people asking for inner peace mean 安らぎ, which is a feeling rather than a political condition.