Japanese symbol for “honours”

栄典

えいてん

Romaji: eiten

honours; honors; ceremony; exercises

In Japanese, honours is 栄典, read えいてん (eiten).

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 honours; honors; ceremony; exercises

Kanji and stroke order

栄

flourish, prosperity, honor

on: エイ、ヨウ
kun: さか.える、は.え、-ば.え、は.える

9 strokes · JLPT 2

典

code, ceremony, law

on: テン、デン
kun: ふみ、のり

8 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
栄養	えいよう eiyou	nutrition; nourishment
繁栄	はんえい han'ei	prosperity; thriving; flourishing
栄光	えいこう eikou	glory
見栄	みえ mie	show; display; pretensions
光栄	こうえい kouei	honour; honor; glory
栄え	はえ hae	glory; splendour; honour
古典	こてん koten	classic (work, esp. book); the classics
典型	てんけい tenkei	type; pattern; model

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.