龍
りゅう
ryuu
= dragon
龍 (ryuu) is the Japanese dragon — one of the most powerful symbols in East Asian mythology, but a creature fundamentally different from the fire-breathing, treasure-hoarding Western dragon. The ryuu is a divine, serpentine being associated with water, wisdom, and divine power, equally at home in the heavens and the depths of the sea.
Ryuu (also written 竜) is a dragon in Japanese mythology, art, and popular culture. Unlike Western dragons, the Japanese ryuu is typically: long and serpentine, wingless or with small wings, associated with water and storms rather than fire, and divine rather than monstrous. It has a lion-like face, deer-like antlers, scales along its body, and sharp claws. Common compound words: 竜巻 (tatsumaki — tornado, literally ‘dragon roll’), 龍神 (ryuujin — dragon god), 登竜門 (touryuumon — gateway to success, from the legend of carp becoming dragons).
Japanese dragon names to know: 龍神 (ryuujin — Dragon God, also Watatsumi, the sea god), 白龍 (hakuryuu — white dragon), 青龍 (seiryuu — blue/green dragon, one of the four guardian deities of the cardinal directions). The year of the Dragon (辰年, tatsu-doshi) is one of the most auspicious years in the Chinese zodiac. In names, 竜 (ryuu) appears as a common male name element: 竜一 (Ryuuichi), 竜二 (Ryuuji).
龍/竜 (ryuu/tatsu) is one of the most visually dramatic kanji, depicting a dragon in all its elaborate form. The character appears in the traditional Chinese 12 zodiac — 辰 (tatsu — the Dragon sign). The standard form 竜 is a simplified version of the original 龍.
Everyday use
日本の龍は水や嵐を司る神聖な存在として描かれることが多い。
Nihon no ryuu wa mizu ya arashi wo tsukasadoru shinsei na sonzai toshite egaka reru koto ga ooi.
Japanese dragons are often depicted as sacred beings that govern water and storms.
Casual / Social Media
龍のタトゥーのデザイン考え中！和彫りと洋彫りどっちがいいかな
Ryuu no tatuu no dezain kangae-chuu! Waebori to youbori docchi ga ii kana
Thinking about a dragon tattoo design! Which is better — Japanese style or Western style
Formal / Cultural context
東アジアの龍信仰は、水の恵みと洪水の恐怖という農耕社会における自然力の二面性を人格化したものであり、水龍を祀る習俗は日本・中国・韓国・ベトナムなど広範な地域に共通して見られる。
Higashi Ajia no ryuu shinkou wa, mizu no megumi to kouzui no kyoufu to iu noukou shakai ni okeru shizenryoku no nimenzou wo jinkaku-ka shita mono de ari, suiryuu wo matsuru shuuzoku wa Nihon Chuugoku Kankoku Betonamu nado kouhan na chiiki ni kyoutsuu shite mirareru.
East Asian dragon worship is a personification of the dual nature of natural forces in agricultural societies — the blessing of water and the terror of floods — and the custom of enshrining water dragons is commonly found across a wide region including Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam.
The Japanese ryuu stands in contrast to the Western dragon in almost every significant way. Where Western dragons are enemies to be slain by heroes (St. George and the Dragon, Smaug in Tolkien), East Asian dragons are divine beings to be worshipped and appeased. 龍神 (ryuujin — dragon god) presides over the sea and rain; drought was understood as the dragon withholding rain, and prayers and rituals were performed to invite the dragon’s blessing. 竜田揚げ (tatsuta-age — a type of fried chicken) takes its name from the Tatsuta River, famous in poetry for autumn maple leaves — the red color of the fried chicken suggests the red maple leaves on the dragon-associated river.
In popular culture, the ryuu appears everywhere in anime and games. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (千と千尋の神隠し — Spirited Away, 2001) features Haku (ハク), a beautiful boy who transforms into a white dragon — one of Studio Ghibli’s most iconic characters, embodying the ryuu as a gentle, powerful, divine being. The 登竜門 (touryuumon — Dragon Gate) legend — in which carp that successfully swim upstream and leap over the Dragon Gate waterfall transform into dragons — has become a metaphor for passing a difficult trial and achieving success, used in Japanese to describe competitive exams, job interviews, and other major life hurdles.
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