King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “dogged”

Romaji: gankyou
stubborn; dogged; persistent; tenacious

In Japanese, dogged is , read (gankyou).

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-na stubborn; dogged; persistent; tenacious
  2. adj-na tough; sturdy; hardy; strong

Kanji and stroke order

stubborn, foolish, firmly
on: ガン
kun: かたく.な
13 strokes · JLPT 1
strong
on: キョウ、ゴウ
kun: つよ.い、つよ.まる、つよ.める、し.いる
11 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “dogged”

WordReadingMeaning
しぶとい shibutoitenacious; tough; enduring
しょうこりもない shoukorimonaiincorrigible; dogged
ねばっこい nebakkoitenacious; persistent; dogged

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
がんばる ganbaruto persevere; to persist; to keep at it
がんこ gankostubborn; obstinate; pigheaded
がんばり ganbaritenacity; endurance
がんじょう ganjousolid; firm; stout
がんばれ ganbarehang in there; go for it; keep at it
べんきょう benkyoustudy
きょうか kyoukastrengthening; intensifying; reinforcement
つよい tsuyoistrong; potent; competent

See also: Chinese symbol for “dogged”.

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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