Japanese symbol for “call”

訪問

ほうもん

Romaji: houmon

call; visit

In Japanese, call is 訪問, read ほうもん (houmon).

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-no, n, vs call; visit

Kanji and stroke order

訪

call on, visit, look up

on: ホウ
kun: おとず.れる、たず.ねる、と.う

11 strokes · JLPT 2

問

question, ask, problem

on: モン
kun: と.う、と.い、とん

11 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “call”

Word	Reading	Meaning
呼びかけ	よびかけ yobikake	call; appeal
連絡	れんらく renraku	contacting; (making) contact; getting in touch
呼ぶ	よぶ yobu	to call out (to); to call; to invoke
判定	はんてい hantei	judgement; judgment; decision
称する	しょうする shousuru	to call; to name

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
訪ねる	たずねる tazuneru	to visit; to call on; to pay a visit to
訪れ	おとずれ otozure	visit; call
訪れる	おとずれる otozureru	to visit; to call on
訪日	ほうにち hounichi	visit to Japan
訪米	ほうべい houbei	visit to the United States
問題	もんだい mondai	question (e.g. on a test); problem
質問	しつもん shitsumon	question; inquiry; enquiry
疑問	ぎもん gimon	doubt; question; suspicion

See also: Chinese symbol for “call”.

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.