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Kanji for Secret
The kanji most commonly used for "Secret" are 秘、密、隠.
秘
Kanji that mean Secret
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秘
to conceal, secretly
Also associated with unfathomable.
Onyomi: hi Kunyomi: hi.meru, hiso.ka, kakusu 10 strokes Jōyō
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密
secret, intimate, detailed
Onyomi: mitsu Kunyomi: hiso.ka 11 strokes Jōyō
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隠
to hide, secret, to be hidden
Onyomi: in, on Kunyomi: kaku.reru, kaku.shi, kakusu, yo.ru 14 strokes Jōyō
秘 (hi) is the secret kept — 秘密 (himitsu) is the word for secret, 秘書 a private secretary, 神秘 mystery in the numinous sense. The character’s altar-side origin (示, later 禾) points at its oldest meaning: what the gods keep closed. A 秘境 is an unexplored, hidden land; 秘伝 a secret technique passed only to initiates.
密 (mitsu) is closeness and density as much as concealment: 密林 is dense jungle, 親密 intimacy, 綿密 meticulous. In 秘密 it supplies the “sealed tight” half. Esoteric Buddhism calls itself 密教 — the teaching transmitted closely, not openly.
隠 (in / kakusu) is the act of hiding: 隠れる, to hide; 隠居, retirement from the world; 隠れ家, a hideaway — the word izakaya menus borrow for “secluded haunt”. Around them: 忍 (to endure/conceal — the ninja’s character) and 謎 (riddle, enigma).
Words using Secret kanji
Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.
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秘書
ひしょ
(private) secretary; treasured book; secret book
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秘密
ひみつ
secret; secrecy; confidentiality
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隠し引き出し
かくしひきだし
secret drawer; hidden drawer
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緊密
きんみつ
rigour; rigor; closeness
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見え隠れ
みえかくれ
appearing and disappearing; slipping in and out of view
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極秘
ごくひ
absolute secrecy
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密接
みっせつ
close (relationship, connection, etc.); intimate; near
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隠れる
かくれる
to hide; to conceal oneself; to take cover
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神秘
しんぴ
mystery; mysteriousness; secret
Before you use Secret kanji
秘 alone reads as "secret/hidden" with a numinous shade — defensible and a little mysterious, which is presumably the point. 密 alone reads as "dense/close" (and, post-2020, evokes the crowded-spaces slogan). 隠 is the act of hiding. The full word 秘密 is legible to everyone — which is, of course, a strange thing for a secret to be.