Japanese symbol for “boldly”

敢然

かんぜん

Romaji: kanzen

boldly; bravely; resolutely; determinedly

In Japanese, boldly is 敢然, read かんぜん (kanzen).

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

adj-t, adv-to boldly; bravely; resolutely; determinedly

Kanji and stroke order

敢

daring, brave, bold

on: カン
kun: あ.えて、あ.えない、あ.えず

12 strokes · JLPT 1

然

sort of thing, so, if so

on: ゼン、ネン
kun: しか、しか.り、しか.し、さ

12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “boldly”

Word	Reading	Meaning
堂々	どうどう doudou	grandly; boldly; confidently
くっきり	くっきり kukkiri	clearly (standing out); distinctly; sharply
ズバリ	ズバリ zubari	decisively; decidedly; boldly
思い切って	おもいきって omoikitte	resolutely; boldly; decisively
恐れ気もなく	おそれげもなく osoregemonaku	courageously; fearlessly; defiantly

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
勇敢	ゆうかん yuukan	brave; courageous; gallant
果敢	かかん kakan	resolute; determined; bold
敢行	かんこう kankou	decisive action; going through with; daring to do
敢えて	あえて aete	purposely (of something needless, unexpected or seemingly counterproductive, etc.); daringly (doing something); deliberately
敢闘	かんとう kantou	fighting bravely
自然	しぜん shizen	nature
当然	とうぜん touzen	natural; right; proper
全然	ぜんぜん zenzen	(not) at all; (not) in the slightest

See also: Chinese symbol for “boldly”.

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.