Japanese symbol for “fewest”

最少

さいしょう

Romaji: saishou

fewest; least; smallest (number); lowest

In Japanese, fewest is 最少, read さいしょう (saishou).

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 fewest; least; smallest (number); lowest; minimum
adj-no, n youngest

Kanji and stroke order

最

utmost, most, extreme

on: サイ、シュ
kun: もっと.も、つま

12 strokes · JLPT 2

少

few, little

on: ショウ
kun: すく.ない、すこ.し

4 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
最近	さいきん saikin	recently; lately; these days
最後	さいご saigo	end; conclusion
最初	さいしょ saisho	beginning; outset; first
最高	さいこう saikou	best; supreme; wonderful
最終	さいしゅう saishuu	last; final; closing
最大	さいだい saidai	biggest; greatest; largest
少し	すこし sukoshi	a little; a bit; a small amount
少年	しょうねん shounen	boy

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.