King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “boundary”

Romaji: kyoukai
boundary; border; limit; bounds

In Japanese, boundary is , read (kyoukai).

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 boundary; border; limit; bounds; frontier

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

boundary, border, region
on: キョウ、ケイ
kun: さかい
14 strokes · JLPT 2
world, boundary
on: カイ
9 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “boundary”

WordReadingMeaning
くいき kuikiarea; zone; district
さかい sakaiborder; boundary
くかく kukakudivision; section; compartment
りんかい rinkaiboundary
さかいめ sakaimeborderline; boundary

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かんきょう kankyouenvironment; surroundings; circumstances
こっきょう kokkyouborder (between countries); national border
しんきょう shinkyoustate of mind; mental state; mental attitude
けいだい keidaigrounds (esp. of shrines and temples); compound; churchyard
きょうぐう kyouguuone's circumstances; environment; situation (in life)
せかい sekaithe world; society; the universe
ぎょうかい gyoukaibusiness world; business circles; (the) industry
げんかい genkailimit; bound

See also: Chinese symbol for “boundary”.

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.