King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “exercise”

Romaji: undou
exercise; physical training; workout; sports

In Japanese, exercise is , read (undou).

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. n, vi, vs exercise; physical training; workout; sports; athletics
  2. n, vi, vs appeal; campaign; drive; crusade; movement; lobbying
  3. n, vi, vs motion; movement

Kanji and stroke order

carry, luck, destiny
on: ウン
kun: はこ.ぶ
12 strokes · JLPT 3
move, motion, change
on: ドウ
kun: うご.く、うご.かす
11 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “exercise”

WordReadingMeaning
れんしゅう renshuupractice; training; drill
しっこう shikkouexecution; carrying out; performance
こうし koushiuse; exercise (of one's right, authority, power, etc.)
えんしゅう enshuupractice; exercise; drill
およぼす oyobosuto exert (influence); to exercise; to cause (e.g. damage)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
うんてん untenoperation (of a machine); running; working
うんえい un'eimanagement; administration; operation
うんよう un'youmaking use of; application; practical use
うんめい unmeifate; destiny; lot
はこぶ hakobuto carry; to transport; to move
かつどう katsudouactivity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation
こうどう koudouaction; conduct; behaviour
どうぶつ doubutsuanimal

See also: Chinese symbol for “exercise”.

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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