King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “decrease”

Romaji: genshou
decrease; reduction; decline

In Japanese, decrease is , read (genshou).

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, vi decrease; reduction; decline

Kanji and stroke order

dwindle, decrease, reduce
on: ゲン
kun: へ.る、へ.らす
12 strokes · JLPT 2
few, little
on: ショウ
kun: すく.ない、すこ.し
4 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “decrease”

WordReadingMeaning
へる heruto decrease (in size or number); to diminish; to abate
ていげん teigendecrease; reduction; fall
へり heridecrease; reduction; fall
へらす herasuto abate; to decrease; to diminish
おちる ochiruto decrease (of popularity, quality, speed, sales, etc.); to fall; to drop

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さくげん sakugencut; reduction; curtailment
かげん kagendegree; extent; amount
げんそく gensokudeceleration
へる heruto decrease (in size or number); to diminish; to abate
へらす herasuto abate; to decrease; to diminish
すこし sukoshia little; a bit; a small amount
しょうねん shounenboy
しょうじょ shoujogirl (usu. between 7 and 17); young lady

See also: Chinese symbol for “decrease”.

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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