Japanese symbol for “faith”
信仰
しんこう
Romaji: shinkou
(religious) faith; belief; creed
In Japanese, faith is 信仰, read しんこう (shinkou).
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
- n, vs, vt (religious) faith; belief; creed
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “faith”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 信頼 | しんらい shinrai | trust (in); confidence; faith |
| 信用 | しんよう shin'you | confidence; trust; faith |
| 宗教 | しゅうきょう shuukyou | religion; religious affiliation; belief |
| 信念 | しんねん shinnen | belief; faith; conviction |
| 信義 | しんぎ shingi | faith; fidelity; loyalty |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 通信 | つうしん tsuushin | correspondence; communication; transmission |
| 信頼 | しんらい shinrai | trust (in); confidence; faith |
| 自信 | じしん jishin | self-confidence; confidence (in oneself) |
| 信用 | しんよう shin'you | confidence; trust; faith |
| 信号 | しんごう shingou | signal; signalling; signaling |
| 受信 | じゅしん jushin | receiving (a message, letter, email, etc.); reception (radio, TV, etc.) |
| 仰天 | ぎょうてん gyouten | being amazed; being horrified; being taken aback |
| 仰向け | あおむけ aomuke | facing upward |
See also: Chinese symbol for “faith”.
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.