Japanese symbol for “incumbency”

在任期間

ざいにんきかん

Romaji: zaininkikan

term of office; tenure; incumbency

In Japanese, incumbency is 在任期間, read ざいにんきかん (zaininkikan).

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 term of office; tenure; incumbency

Kanji and stroke order

在

exist, outskirts, suburbs

on: ザイ
kun: あ.る

6 strokes · JLPT 2

任

responsibility, duty, term

on: ニン
kun: まか.せる、まか.す

6 strokes · JLPT 2

期

period, time, date

on: キ、ゴ

12 strokes · JLPT 2

間

interval, space

on: カン、ケン
kun: あいだ、ま、あい

12 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
現在	げんざい genzai	the present; present time; now
存在	そんざい sonzai	existence; being; presence
滞在	たいざい taizai	stay; sojourn
在日	ざいにち zainichi	resident in Japan (of a foreigner); situated in Japan (e.g. of an embassy)
不在	ふざい fuzai	absence
潜在	せんざい senzai	potentiality; dormancy; latency
責任	せきにん sekinin	duty; responsibility (incl. supervision of staff)
任務	にんむ ninmu	duty; function; office
期間	きかん kikan	period; term; interval
時間	じかん jikan	time

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.