King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “employ”

Romaji: yatou
to employ; to hire; to take on

In Japanese, employ is , read (yatou).

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. v5u, vt to employ; to hire; to take on
  2. v5u, vt to charter (a car, boat, etc.); to hire

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

employ, hire
on: コ
kun: やと.う
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “employ”

WordReadingMeaning
つかう tsukauto use (a person, animal, puppet, etc.); to employ; to handle
かかえる kakaeruto employ; to have (on one's staff); to hire
いれる ireruto admit; to accept; to employ
ひろう hirouto take on (someone in adverse circumstances); to employ; to give a job
おく okuto appoint (someone to a certain position); to hire; to employ

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こよう koyouemployment; hire
かいこ kaikodismissal (of an employee); discharge; firing
やといぬし yatoinushiemployer
やとい yatoiemployee; employment
ひやとい hiyatoidaily employment; hiring by the day; day laborer

See also: Chinese symbol for “employ”.

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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