亀(かめ)

かめ
noun
turtle, tortoise
1. turtle, tortoise
A reptile with a hard shell.
亀(かめ)は長生(ながい)きする。
Turtles live long lives.
亀(かめ)がゆっくり歩(ある)いている。
The turtle is walking slowly.
池(いけ)で亀(かめ)を見(み)つけた。
I found a turtle in the pond.
子(こ)どもの頃(ころ)、亀(かめ)を飼(か)っていた。
I kept a turtle as a pet when I was a child.
日本(にほん)では亀(かめ)は長生(ながい)きの象徴(しょうちょう)で、「鶴(つる)は千(せん)年(ねん)、亀(かめ)は万(まん)年(ねん)」ということわざがある。
In Japan, turtles are a symbol of longevity, and there's a proverb that says 'cranes live a thousand years, turtles live ten thousand years.'

亀(かめ) covers both turtles and tortoises — Japanese does not normally distinguish between them.

CULTURE:

Turtles are a powerful symbol of longevity and good fortune in Japanese tradition.

  • 鶴(つる)は千年(せんねん)、亀(かめ)は万年(まんねん): "Cranes live 1,000 years, turtles 10,000" (proverb about longevity)
  • 浦島太郎(うらしまたろう): a famous folktale in which a fisherman is carried to an undersea palace on a turtle's back

COMPOUNDS:

  • 海亀(うみがめ): sea turtle
  • 亀裂(きれつ): crack, fissure (uses the kanji 亀(き) in its on'yomi reading)

NOTE:
The kanji 亀(かめ) is visually complex but commonly encountered. It appears in place names such as 亀戸(かめいど) and 亀有(かめあり) in Tokyo.

core
Added 2026.1.9 21:29 · Revised 2026.3.27 4:36
02000/02198_kame