Japanese symbol for “headwaters”

水上

みなかみ

Romaji: minakami

headwaters; source

In Japanese, headwaters is 水上, read みなかみ (minakami).

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 headwaters; source

Kanji and stroke order

水

water

on: スイ
kun: みず、みず-

4 strokes · JLPT 4

上

above, up

on: ジョウ、ショウ、シャン
kun: うえ、-うえ、うわ-、かみ

3 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “headwaters”

Word	Reading	Meaning
源流	げんりゅう genryuu	source (e.g. of a river); headwaters

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
水着	みずぎ mizugi	bathing suit; swimsuit; swimmers
水準	すいじゅん suijun	level; standard
水道	すいどう suidou	water supply; water service; waterworks
水素	すいそ suiso	hydrogen (H)
水分	すいぶん suibun	water; liquid; fluid
水泳	すいえい suiei	swimming
以上	いじょう ijou	not less than ...; ... and over; ... and above
売り上げ	うりあげ uriage	amount sold; sales; proceeds

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.