King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “conventional”

Romaji: zairai
pre-existing; already there; conventional

In Japanese, conventional is , read (zairai).

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 pre-existing; already there; conventional

Kanji and stroke order

exist, outskirts, suburbs
on: ザイ
kun: あ.る
6 strokes · JLPT 2
come, due, next
on: ライ、タイ
kun: く.る、きた.る、きた.す、き.たす
7 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “conventional”

WordReadingMeaning
じゅうらい juuraitraditional; conventional; usual
じょうとう joutouconventional; commonplace; trite
おきまり okimaristandard; set; routine
でんとうてき dentoutekitraditional; customary; conventional
かたどおり katadooriformal; proper; prescribed

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
げんざい genzaithe present; present time; now
そんざい sonzaiexistence; being; presence
たいざい taizaistay; sojourn
ざいにち zainichiresident in Japan (of a foreigner); situated in Japan (e.g. of an embassy)
ふざい fuzaiabsence
せんざい senzaipotentiality; dormancy; latency
みらい mirai(distant) future
できる dekiruto be able to do; to be possible; to be permitted (to do)

See also: Chinese symbol for “conventional”.

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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