Japanese symbol for “devolution”

委譲

いじょう

Romaji: ijou

transfer (of authority, power, etc.); delegation; devolution

In Japanese, devolution is 委譲, read いじょう (ijou).

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, vs, vt transfer (of authority, power, etc.); delegation; devolution

Kanji and stroke order

委

committee, entrust to, leave to

on: イ
kun: ゆだ.ねる

8 strokes · JLPT 2

譲

defer, turnover, transfer

on: ジョウ
kun: ゆず.る

20 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “devolution”

Word	Reading	Meaning
権限委譲	けんげんいじょう kengen'ijou	devolution; delegation of authority; transfer of power

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
委員	いいん iin	committee member
委託	いたく itaku	entrusting (something to a person); consignment (of goods); putting in someone's charge
委任	いにん inin	entrusting; charge; delegation
委嘱	いしょく ishoku	commissioning; entrusting (with); request
委ねる	ゆだねる yudaneru	to entrust (a matter) to; to leave to
委員会	いいんかい iinkai	committee; commission; board
譲渡	じょうと jouto	transfer; assignment; conveyance
譲歩	じょうほ jouho	concession; conciliation; compromise

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.