Japanese symbol for “disenfranchisement”

失権

しっけん

Romaji: shikken

loss of rights; disenfranchisement

In Japanese, disenfranchisement is 失権, read しっけん (shikken).

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 loss of rights; disenfranchisement

Kanji and stroke order

失

lose, error, fault

on: シツ
kun: うしな.う、う.せる

5 strokes · JLPT 2

権

authority, power, rights

on: ケン、ゴン
kun: おもり、かり、はか.る

15 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
失敗	しっぱい shippai	failure; mistake; blunder
損失	そんしつ sonshitsu	loss (of assets, profit, etc.)
失う	うしなう ushinau	to lose
失業	しつぎょう shitsugyou	unemployment
失礼	しつれい shitsurei	discourtesy; impoliteness
喪失	そうしつ soushitsu	loss; forfeit
権利	けんり kenri	right; privilege
政権	せいけん seiken	(political) administration; political power

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.