Japanese symbol for “expat”

国外駐在

こくがいちゅうざい

Romaji: kokugaichuuzai

overseas posting; expatriate (employee); expat

In Japanese, expat is 国外駐在, read こくがいちゅうざい (kokugaichuuzai).

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 overseas posting; expatriate (employee); expat

Kanji and stroke order

国

country

on: コク
kun: くに

8 strokes · JLPT 4

外

outside

on: ガイ、ゲ
kun: そと、ほか、はず.す、はず.れる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

駐

stop-over, reside in, resident

on: チュウ

15 strokes · JLPT 2

在

exist, outskirts, suburbs

on: ザイ
kun: あ.る

6 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
全国	ぜんこく zenkoku	the whole country
国内	こくない kokunai	within the country; inside the county; domestic
国民	こくみん kokumin	people (of a country); nation; citizen
国家	こっか kokka	state; country; nation
国際	こくさい kokusai	international
外国	がいこく gaikoku	foreign country
海外	かいがい kaigai	foreign; abroad; overseas
以外	いがい igai	excluding; except (for); apart from
駐車	ちゅうしゃ chuusha	parking (a vehicle)
現在	げんざい genzai	the present; present time; now

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.