Japanese symbol for “councillor”

参事官

さんじかん

Romaji: sanjikan

councillor; councilor

In Japanese, councillor is 参事官, read さんじかん (sanjikan).

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

n councillor; councilor

Kanji and stroke order

参

nonplussed, three (in documents), going

on: サン、シン
kun: まい.る、まい-、まじわる、みつ

8 strokes · JLPT 2

事

matter, thing, fact

on: ジ、ズ
kun: こと、つか.う、つか.える

8 strokes · JLPT 3

官

bureaucrat, the government, organ

on: カン

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “councillor”

Word	Reading	Meaning
参事	さんじ sanji	secretary; councillor; councilor
参与	さんよ san'yo	consultant; councillor; adviser
評議員	ひょうぎいん hyougiin	trustee; councillor (councilor)
議士	ぎし gishi	councillor; councilor; legislator
顧問官	こもんかん komonkan	councillor; councilor

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
参加	さんか sanka	participation; joining; entry
参考	さんこう sankou	reference; consultation
参照	さんしょう sanshou	reference (e.g. to a dictionary, passage, footnotes); consultation; comparison
参議院	さんぎいん sangiin	House of Councillors (upper house of the National Diet of Japan)
参戦	さんせん sansen	participation in a war; going to war
持参	じさん jisan	bringing; taking; carrying
仕事	しごと shigoto	work; job; labor
事件	じけん jiken	event; affair; incident
官僚	かんりょう kanryou	bureaucrat; government official; bureaucracy

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.