Japanese symbol for “descent”
下降
かこう
Romaji: kakou
descent; fall; drop; decline
In Japanese, descent is 下降, read かこう (kakou).
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, vi, vs descent; fall; drop; decline; downturn; subsidence
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “descent”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 降下 | こうか kouka | descent; fall; drop |
| 流れ | ながれ nagare | descent; ancestry; school |
| 落下 | らっか rakka | fall; drop; descent |
| 滑降 | かっこう kakkou | descent (esp. in skiing); sliding down; skiing down |
| 筋 | すじ suji | lineage; descent |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 以下 | いか ika | not exceeding ...; not more than ...; ... and under |
| 地下 | ちか chika | underground; below the ground |
| 低下 | ていか teika | fall; decline; lowering |
| 上下 | じょうげ jouge | top and bottom; high and low; above and below |
| 地下鉄 | ちかてつ chikatetsu | subway; metro; underground (railway) |
| 部下 | ぶか buka | subordinate person |
| 以降 | いこう ikou | on and after; from ... onward; since |
| 降りる | おりる oriru | to descend (e.g. a mountain); to go down; to come down |
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.