King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “candidate”

Romaji: kouho
candidate; contender; prospect; pick

In Japanese, candidate is , read (kouho).

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 candidate; contender; prospect; pick; choice; list
  2. n candidacy; candidature; nomination

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

climate, season, weather
on: コウ
kun: そうろう
10 strokes · JLPT 2
supplement, supply, make good
on: ホ
kun: おぎな.う
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “candidate”

WordReadingMeaning
りっこうほしゃ rikkouhoshacandidate (for an election)
こうほしゃ kouhoshacandidate; applicant
しぼうしゃ shiboushacandidate; applicant
きぼうしゃ kiboushaapplicant; candidate; person interested in doing something
しがんしゃ shiganshaapplicant; candidate; volunteer

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
りっこうほ rikkouhocandidacy; standing as a candidate; bidding (to host an event, e.g. the Olympics)
きこう kikouclimate
てんこう tenkouweather
ちょうこう choukousign; indication; omen
しょうこうぐん shoukougunsyndrome
ほじょ hojoassistance; support; help
ほきゅう hokyuusupply; supplying; replenishment
ほしょう hoshoucompensation; reparation

See also: Chinese symbol for “candidate”.

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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