King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “concept”

Romaji: kangae
thinking; thought; view; opinion

In Japanese, concept is , read (kangae).

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 thinking; thought; view; opinion; concept
  2. n idea; notion; imagination
  3. n intention; plan; design
  4. n consideration; judgement; deliberation; reflection
  5. n wish; hope; expectation

Kanji and stroke order

consider, think over
on: コウ
kun: かんが.える、かんが.え
6 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “concept”

WordReadingMeaning
がいねん gainengeneral idea; concept; notion
かんねん kannenidea; notion; concept
コンセプト konseputoconcept; general idea; notion

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さんこう sankoureference; consultation
かんがえる kangaeruto think (about, of); to think over; to ponder
しこう shikouthought; consideration; thinking
こうりょ kouryoconsideration; taking into account
かんがえかた kangaekataway of thinking; point of view; opinion

See also: Chinese symbol for “concept”.

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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