Japanese symbol for “enterprising”

進取

しんしゅ

Romaji: shinshu

enterprising; go-ahead; progressive

In Japanese, enterprising is 進取, read しんしゅ (shinshu).

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, n enterprising; go-ahead; progressive

Kanji and stroke order

進

advance, proceed, progress

on: シン
kun: すす.む、すす.める

11 strokes · JLPT 3

取

take, fetch, take up

on: シュ
kun: と.る、と.り、と.り-、とり

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “enterprising”

Word	Reading	Meaning
進取的	しんしゅてき shinshuteki	enterprising
野心的	やしんてき yashinteki	ambitious; enterprising

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
推進	すいしん suishin	propulsion; drive
進行	しんこう shinkou	moving forward (e.g. of a vehicle); onward movement
進出	しんしゅつ shinshutsu	advance (into a new market, industry, etc.); expansion (into); launch (into)
進化	しんか shinka	evolution
促進	そくしん sokushin	promotion; acceleration; encouragement
進歩	しんぽ shinpo	progress; advance; improvement
取引	とりひき torihiki	transactions; dealings; business
買取	かいとり kaitori	purchase; buying; buying out

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.