King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “contrition”

Romaji: kaikon
regret; remorse; repentance; contrition

In Japanese, contrition is , read (kaikon).

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. adj-no, n, vs regret; remorse; repentance; contrition

Kanji and stroke order

repent, regret
on: カイ
kun: く.いる、く.やむ、くや.しい
9 strokes · JLPT 1
regret, bear a grudge, resentment
on: コン
kun: うら.む、うら.めしい
9 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “contrition”

WordReadingMeaning
つうかい tsuukaicontrition; extreme regret
かいしん kaishincontrition
かいしゅん kaishunrepentance; contrition
コンチリサン konchirisancontrition

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こうかい koukairegret; repentance; remorse
くやしい kuyashiifrustrated (over a failure, humiliation or injustice); annoyed; chagrined
くい kuiregret; repentance
くやむ kuyamuto mourn; to lament
ざんげ zangerepentance; confession; penitence
くやしなき kuyashinakicrying from vexation; tears of regret
うらみ uramiresentment; grudge; malice
うらむ uramuto bear a grudge against; to resent; to blame

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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