King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “academy”

Romaji: gakuen
educational institution; school; academy; campus

In Japanese, academy is , read (gakuen).

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

  1. n educational institution; school; academy; campus

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

study, learning, science
on: ガク
kun: まな.ぶ
8 strokes · JLPT 4
park, garden, yard
on: エン
kun: その
13 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “academy”

WordReadingMeaning
がっかい gakkailearned society; scientific society; academy
がくいん gakuininstitute; academy
アカデミー akademiiacademy
かんりんいん kanrin'inacademy; institute
えいこくがくしいん eikokugakushiinThe British Academy; The Academy

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
がっこう gakkouschool
だいがく daigakuuniversity; college
がくせい gakuseistudent (esp. a university student)
かがく kagakuscience
しょうがっこう shougakkouprimary school; elementary school; grade school
こうえん kouen(public) park
ようちえん youchienkindergarten (in Japan, non-compulsory education from age 3 until primary school); preschool
ていえん teiengarden; park

See also: Chinese symbol for “academy”.

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.

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