Japanese symbol for “costly”
高価
こうか
Romaji: kouka
highly priced; expensive; valuable; costly
In Japanese, costly is 高価, read こうか (kouka).
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-na, n highly priced; expensive; valuable; costly
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “costly”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 物入り | ものいり monoiri | costly; expensive |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 最高 | さいこう saikou | best; supreme; wonderful |
| 高い | たかい takai | high; tall |
| 高校 | こうこう koukou | senior high school; high school |
| 高校生 | こうこうせい koukousei | senior high school student |
| 高速 | こうそく kousoku | high-speed; rapid; express |
| 高齢 | こうれい kourei | advanced age; old age |
| 評価 | ひょうか hyouka | valuation; appraisal; evaluation |
| 価値 | かち kachi | value; worth; merit |
See also: Chinese symbol for “costly”.
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.