Japanese symbol for “eldest”

最年長

さいねんちょう

Romaji: sainenchou

eldest; oldest

In Japanese, eldest is 最年長, read さいねんちょう (sainenchou).

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

adj-no eldest; oldest

Kanji and stroke order

最

utmost, most, extreme

on: サイ、シュ
kun: もっと.も、つま

12 strokes · JLPT 2

年

year, counter for years

on: ネン
kun: とし

6 strokes · JLPT 4

長

long, leader, superior

on: チョウ
kun: なが.い、おさ

8 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “eldest”

Word	Reading	Meaning
一番上	いちばんうえ ichiban'ue	highest; uppermost; topmost

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
最近	さいきん saikin	recently; lately; these days
最後	さいご saigo	end; conclusion
最初	さいしょ saisho	beginning; outset; first
最高	さいこう saikou	best; supreme; wonderful
最終	さいしゅう saishuu	last; final; closing
最大	さいだい saidai	biggest; greatest; largest
今年	ことし kotoshi	this year
年間	ねんかん nenkan	(period of) a year
成長	せいちょう seichou	growth; development; growing up

See also: Chinese symbol for “eldest”.

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.