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One of the best Japanese Kanji dictionary.
The kanji most commonly used for "Pain" are 痛、傷.
痛
痛 is pain itself — the character in 痛い (“it hurts”, one of the first words every child and every visitor to Japan learns), 頭痛 (headache), 苦痛 (agony). The sickness radical 疒 wraps the character, which tells you its register: this is bodily, clinical pain, the kind a doctor asks you to rate.
傷 is the wound rather than the ache — a cut, an injury, and, tellingly, an emotional scar: 傷つく means to be hurt in feelings as naturally as in flesh, and 心の傷 is a wound of the heart. If the pain you mean is grief or damage carried inside, 傷 says it better than 痛.
Around these two sit 苦 (suffering, bitterness), 悲 (sorrow) and 煩 (torment, vexation) — each a different corner of the territory English covers with one word.
Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.
Think twice before wearing 痛: to a Japanese reader it says "painful/ouch" with an almost medical flatness, and in slang 痛い also means "cringeworthy". If the idea is surviving hurt, 傷 (wound, scar) reads deeper, and a word like 無痛 ("without pain") or 苦楽 ("hardship and joy") frames it with intent.
What is Onyomi?
Onyomi, also known as the "Sino-Japanese reading," is one of the two main reading systems for kanji characters in Japanese. It refers to the reading of a kanji character that is derived from the original Chinese pronunciation.
What is Kunyomi?
Kunyomi, also known as the "native Japanese reading," is one of the two main reading systems for kanji characters in Japanese. It refers to the reading of a kanji character that is based on the native Japanese pronunciation. Kunyomi readings are often used when a kanji character stands alone or is followed by hiragana, as in verbs and adjectives. Mastering both kunyomi and onyomi is crucial for understanding and using kanji effectively in the Japanese language.
What is Radical?
A radical, also known as "bushu" in Japanese, is a fundamental component of kanji characters. Radicals are the building blocks of kanji and are used to categorize and organize them in dictionaries. There are 214 traditional radicals, each with its own meaning, which often provides a clue to the meaning of the kanji character it forms.
What is strokes?
Stroke count, or "kakusuu" in Japanese, refers to the number of individual brushstrokes required to write a kanji character. Each kanji has a specific stroke order and stroke count, which are essential for writing the character correctly and legibly. Understanding and following the correct stroke order not only ensures proper balance and aesthetics but also makes writing more efficient and fluid.