King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “heirloom”

Romaji: denka
heirloom; trump card; last resort; family tradition

In Japanese, heirloom is , read (denka).

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 heirloom; trump card; last resort; family tradition

Kanji and stroke order

transmit, go along, walk along
on: デン、テン
kun: つた.わる、つた.える、つた.う、つだ.う
6 strokes · JLPT 2
house, home, family
on: カ、ケ
kun: いえ、や、うち
10 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “heirloom”

WordReadingMeaning
かたみ katamimemento (esp. of a deceased person); keepsake; heirloom
かほう kahouheirloom
てつぎ tetsugisomething handed down through successive generations; heirloom

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
でんとう dentoutradition; convention
せんでん sendenpublicity; advertisement; advertising
でんせつ densetsulegend; folklore; tradition
てつだい tetsudaihelper; assistant
いでん idenheredity; (genetic) inheritance
いでんし idenshigene
かぞく kazokufamily
こっか kokkastate; country; nation

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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