Japanese symbol for “abstention”
棄権
きけん
Romaji: kiken
abstention (from voting); renunciation (of a right); withdrawal (from a contest)
In Japanese, abstention is 棄権, read きけん (kiken).
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Meanings
- n, vs, vt abstention (from voting); renunciation (of a right); withdrawal (from a contest)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “abstention”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不干渉 | ふかんしょう fukanshou | abstention; nonintervention; noninterference |
| 避止 | ひし hishi | abstention |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 放棄 | ほうき houki | abandonment; renouncement; renunciation |
| 廃棄 | はいき haiki | disposal; abandonment; scrapping |
| 破棄 | はき haki | tearing up and discarding (e.g. documents); destruction |
| 棄却 | ききゃく kikyaku | rejection; dismissal; turning down |
| 投棄 | とうき touki | abandonment; giving up; throwing away |
| 権利 | けんり kenri | right; privilege |
| 政権 | せいけん seiken | (political) administration; political power |
| 権力 | けんりょく kenryoku | (political) power; authority; influence |
See also: Chinese symbol for “abstention”.
Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.