What 鉃 means
It can name an arrowhead or stand in for 鉄.
Chinese dictionaries record 鉃 as another written form of 鏃, the character for an arrowhead. References connect the form with manuscripts from Chu, an ancient Chinese state, and with older script forms preserved in later records. Dictionaries drawing on 《集韻》, a traditional Chinese reference book organized by sound and rhyme, also preserve the variant link.
The Japanese use is separate: some companies use 鉃 as a nonstandard form of 鉄 in names and logos. The shape swaps 失 (“loss”) in 鉄 for 矢 (“arrow”), making 金矢 (“metal arrow”) a favorable visual reading.
Why does 鉃 appear in a Japanese railway logo?
It is a logo-specific pun on 鉄, not a new spelling rule.
The choice is linked to Japan's 1987 railway reorganization under the JR name: the new companies avoided 鉄's 金失 (“metal loss”) reading and adopted 金矢 (“metal arrow”) as a favorable mark.
Company registrations and ordinary typed documents kept 鉄 to avoid confusion; JR Shikoku was an exception. Outside a deliberately designed logo, 鉃 can look like a typo.
Its meaning depends on tradition: an arrowhead form in Chinese dictionaries, a deliberate Japanese corporate logo form for 鉄.
For ordinary Japanese text about iron or railways, 鉄 is standard; 鉃 can look like a typo outside a logo.
Who writes 鉃
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What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsArrowhead: an alternate written form of 鏃.
Don't confuse it with
1
Related characters
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Questions people ask
1Will every browser display 鉃?
Not always. As of 2026, a browser whose selected Chinese, Japanese, or Korean font lacks 鉃 may show a box or fallback mark.
More like this
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How to type or find 鉃
- Search it as
- arrowhead · arrowhead character · 鏃 · 鉃 and 鉄 · Japanese railway logo · 鉄 logo · Cangjie 鉃 · 金矢
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
鉃\9243Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.