Japanese symbol for “consist”

存する

そんする

Romaji: sonsuru

to exist; to remain; to live

In Japanese, consist is 存する, read そんする (sonsuru).

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

vi, vs-s to exist; to remain; to live
vi, vs-s to consist (in); to lie (in); to reside (in); to rest (with); to depend (on)
vs-s, vt to retain; to preserve; to keep

Kanji and stroke order

存

exist, suppose, be aware of

on: ソン、ゾン
kun: ながら.える、あ.る、たも.つ、と.う

6 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
存在	そんざい sonzai	existence; being; presence
保存	ほぞん hozon	preservation; conservation; storage
ご存知	ごぞんじ gozonji	knowing; being aware (of)
生存	せいぞん seizon	existence; being; life
共存	きょうぞん kyouzon	coexistence
依存	いぞん izon	dependence; reliance

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.