King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “breakthrough”

Romaji: toppa
breaking through; breakthrough; penetration

In Japanese, breakthrough is , read (toppa).

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 breaking through; breakthrough; penetration
  2. n, vs, vt surmounting (a difficulty); overcoming; getting over; accomplishing (an aim); reaching (a goal)
  3. n, vs, vt exceeding; passing; rising above

Kanji and stroke order

stab, protruding, thrust
on: トツ、カ
kun: つ.く
8 strokes · JLPT 2
rend, rip, tear
on: ハ
kun: やぶ.る、やぶ.れる、わ.れる
10 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “breakthrough”

WordReadingMeaning
だいはっけん daihakkenbreakthrough; great discovery
とっぱこう toppakoubreakthrough (research, etc.); breach; opening
しんきじく shinkijikuinnovation; new departure; milestone
はか hakabreakthrough (of a contaminant through a respirator cartridge, etc.)
ブレークスルー bureekusuruubreakthrough

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
とつぜん totsuzenabrupt; sudden; unexpected
しょうとつ shoutotsucollision; crash; impact
とつにゅう totsunyuurushing into; breaking into; storming
とつじょ totsujosuddenly; all of a sudden; unexpectedly
つき tsukithrust; stab; lunge
はかい hakaidestruction; disruption
はさん hasanbankruptcy; insolvency
やぶる yaburuto tear; to rip; to break

See also: Chinese symbol for “breakthrough”.

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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