Japanese symbol for “commute”

通う

かよう

Romaji: kayou

to go to and from (a place); to go back and forth between; to run between (e.g. bus, train, etc.); to ply between

In Japanese, commute is 通う, read かよう (kayou).

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

v5u, vi to go to and from (a place); to go back and forth between; to run between (e.g. bus, train, etc.); to ply between
v5u, vi to go to (school, work, etc.); to attend; to commute; to frequent
v5u, vi to circulate (e.g. blood, electricity); to be communicated (e.g. thought)
v5u, vi to resemble

Kanji and stroke order

通

traffic, pass through, avenue

on: ツウ、ツ
kun: とお.る、とお.り、-とお.り、-どお.り

10 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
普通	ふつう futsuu	normal; ordinary; regular
通り	どおり doori	in accordance with; following
通常	つうじょう tsuujou	usual; ordinary; normal
通信	つうしん tsuushin	correspondence; communication; transmission
交通	こうつう koutsuu	traffic; transportation
共通	きょうつう kyoutsuu	common; shared; mutual

See also: Chinese symbol for “commute”.

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.