Japanese symbol for “imprisonment”
禁錮
きんこ
Romaji: kinko
imprisonment (without forced labour); incarceration; confinement
In Japanese, imprisonment is 禁錮, read きんこ (kinko).
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 imprisonment (without forced labour); incarceration; confinement
Written forms: 禁錮、禁固. Readings: きんこ.
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “imprisonment”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 監禁 | かんきん kankin | confinement; imprisonment; incarceration |
| 収監 | しゅうかん shuukan | imprisonment |
| 投獄 | とうごく tougoku | imprisonment; incarceration |
| 収容 | しゅうよう shuuyou | imprisonment; detention; internment |
| 留置 | りゅうち ryuuchi | detention (usu. during investigation); imprisonment; poundage |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 禁止 | きんし kinshi | prohibition; inhibition; ban |
| 禁煙 | きんえん kin'en | abstaining from smoking; quitting smoking |
| 監禁 | かんきん kankin | confinement; imprisonment; incarceration |
| 解禁 | かいきん kaikin | lifting a ban; raising an embargo; opening a season (hunting, fishing, etc.) |
| 禁物 | きんもつ kinmotsu | thing that should be (carefully) avoided; no-no; thing to definitely not do |
| 禁じる | きんじる kinjiru | to forbid; to ban; to prohibit |
| 重禁錮 | じゅうきんこ juukinko | major imprisonment; imprisonment with hard labor (hard labour) |
| 軽禁錮 | けいきんこ keikinko | minor imprisonment; imprisonment without hard labor (hard labour) |
See also: Chinese symbol for “imprisonment”.
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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