Japanese symbol for “contemporary”
現代
げんだい
Romaji: gendai
present age; present day; contemporary; today
In Japanese, contemporary is 現代, read げんだい (gendai).
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
- adj-no, n present age; present day; contemporary; today
- adj-no, n modern era; modern times; contemporary era
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “contemporary”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 同期 | どうき douki | same year (of graduation, entering a company, etc.); contemporary; classmate |
| 今風 | いまふう imafuu | modern; current; contemporary |
| コンテンポラリー | コンテンポラリー kontenporarii | contemporary |
| 当世流 | とうせいりゅう touseiryuu | modern; contemporary |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 現在 | げんざい genzai | the present; present time; now |
| 現れ | あらわれ araware | embodiment; manifestation; materialization |
| 現実 | げんじつ genjitsu | reality; actuality; hard fact |
| 表現 | ひょうげん hyougen | expression; representation; description |
| 現場 | げんば genba | actual spot; scene (of a crime, accident, etc.) |
| 時代 | じだい jidai | period; epoch; era |
| 代表 | だいひょう daihyou | representation; representative; delegate |
| 代わり | かわり kawari | substitute; replacement; substituting |
See also: Chinese symbol for “contemporary”.
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.