King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “backing”

Romaji: shien
support; backing; aid; assistance

In Japanese, backing is , read (shien).

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, vs, vt support; backing; aid; assistance

Kanji and stroke order

branch, support, sustain
on: シ
kun: ささ.える、つか.える、か.う
4 strokes · JLPT 2
abet, help, save
on: エン
12 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “backing”

WordReadingMeaning
しじ shijisupport; backing; endorsement
ようりつ youritsubacking (for a position); giving support to; helping (someone) to a position
こうえん kouensupport; backing
はいけい haikeibacking; support (from behind the scenes)
えんご engosupport; help; backing

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しはらい shiharaipayment
しじ shijisupport; backing; endorsement
しはい shihairule; domination; control
してん shitenbranch office; branch store
しはらう shiharauto pay
おうえん ouenaid; assistance; help
えんじょ enjoassistance; aid; support
きゅうえん kyuuenrelief; rescue

See also: Chinese symbol for “backing”.

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.