King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “efficacy”

Romaji: kouka
effect; effectiveness; efficacy; result

In Japanese, efficacy is , read (kouka).

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 effect; effectiveness; efficacy; result
  2. n effects (e.g. sound effects, visual effects, special effects)

Kanji and stroke order

merit, efficacy, efficiency
on: コウ
kun: き.く、ききめ、なら.う
8 strokes · JLPT 2
fruit, reward, carry out
on: カ
kun: は.たす、はた.す、-は.たす、は.てる
8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “efficacy”

WordReadingMeaning
こう kouefficacy; benefit; efficiency
こうりょく kouryokueffect; efficacy; validity
ききめ kikimeeffect; virtue; efficacy
じっこう jikkoupractical effect; efficacy; efficiency
こうのう kounoueffect; effectiveness; efficacy

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ゆうこう yuukouvalid; effective
こうりつ kouritsuefficiency
むこう mukouinvalid; void; ineffective
こうりょく kouryokueffect; efficacy; validity
じこう jikouprescription; statute of limitations; limitation period
けっか kekkaresult; consequence; outcome
せいか seika(good) result; outcome; fruits (of one's labors)
はたして hatashiteas was expected; just as one thought; sure enough

See also: Chinese symbol for “efficacy”.

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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