Japanese symbol for “independently”

単独で

たんどくで

Romaji: tandokude

independently; individually; separately; alone

In Japanese, independently is 単独で, read たんどくで (tandokude).

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

exp independently; individually; separately; alone; singlehanded; unassisted

Kanji and stroke order

単

simple, one, single

on: タン
kun: ひとえ

9 strokes · JLPT 2

独

single, alone, spontaneously

on: ドク、トク
kun: ひと.り

9 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
簡単	かんたん kantan	simple; easy; uncomplicated
単位	たんい tan'i	unit (e.g. meters, grams, etc.); denomination
単純	たんじゅん tanjun	simple; plain; uncomplicated
単に	たんに tanni	simply; merely; only
単なる	たんなる tannaru	mere; simple; sheer
単語	たんご tango	word; vocabulary
独特	どくとく dokutoku	peculiarity; uniqueness; characteristic
独自	どくじ dokuji	original; unique; distinctive

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.