One of the most loved words in Japanese, and it's a single character.

What a Japanese person actually thinks
Warm and genuinely moving. After the 2011 earthquake this became *the* word for people holding together, so it carries real collective weight. Nobody will find it corny.

Meaning

Literally: thread + half
Actually: The bond between people — family, comrades, survivors. Originally the tether for an animal, now overwhelmingly emotional.

Scores

Naturalness●●●●●

Extremely common and well understood.

Coolness●●●●●

Not edgy at all — it's sincere. Docked one point only because its post-2011 ubiquity made it briefly overexposed in Japan.

Watch out

Nothing embarrassing lurking in here.

On skin

絆

Orientation: either

Brush or Mincho. The 糸 radical on the left is delicate — make sure your artist can hold those small strokes clean.