King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “circumstances”

Romaji: jijou
circumstances; conditions; situation; reasons

In Japanese, circumstances is , read (jijou).

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 circumstances; conditions; situation; reasons; state of affairs

Kanji and stroke order

matter, thing, fact
on: ジ、ズ
kun: こと、つか.う、つか.える
8 strokes · JLPT 3
feelings, emotion, passion
on: ジョウ、セイ
kun: なさ.け
11 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “circumstances”

WordReadingMeaning
つごう tsugoucircumstances; condition; convenience
じょうたい joutaistate; condition; situation
ばあい baaicase; occasion; situation
じょうきょう joukyoustate of affairs; situation; conditions
かんきょう kankyouenvironment; surroundings; circumstances

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しごと shigotowork; job; labor
じけん jikenevent; affair; incident
きじ kijiarticle; news story; report
じぎょう jigyoubusiness; enterprise; venture
じこ jikoaccident; incident; trouble
じじつ jijitsufact; truth; reality
じょうほう jouhouinformation; news; report
かんじょう kanjouemotion; feeling; feelings

See also: Chinese symbol for “circumstances”.

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.