King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “activity”

Romaji: katsudou
activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation

In Japanese, activity is , read (katsudou).

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, vi, vs activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation
  2. n moving picture

Kanji and stroke order

lively, resuscitation, being helped
on: カツ
kun: い.きる、い.かす、い.ける
9 strokes · JLPT 2
move, motion, change
on: ドウ
kun: うご.く、うご.かす
11 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “activity”

WordReadingMeaning
かつやく katsuyakuactivity (esp. energetic or successful); great efforts; active participation
じぎょう jigyoubusiness; enterprise; venture
かっせい kasseiactivity
いとなみ itonamiactivity; action; performance
のうどう noudouactivity

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
せいかつ seikatsulife; living
かつやく katsuyakuactivity (esp. energetic or successful); great efforts; active participation
ふっかつ fukkatsurevival (of an old system, custom, fashion, etc.); restoration; return
かつよう katsuyoupractical use; application; making good use of
かっぱつ kappatsulively; active; vigorous
こうどう koudouaction; conduct; behaviour
うんどう undouexercise; physical training; workout
どうぶつ doubutsuanimal

See also: Chinese symbol for “activity”.

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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