King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “inspiring”

Romaji: kosui
rousing (courage, morale, etc.); encouragement

In Japanese, inspiring is , read (kosui).

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, vs, vt rousing (courage, morale, etc.); encouragement
  2. n, vs, vt advocacy; promotion (of a belief); encouragement; inspiring (someone with an idea)

Kanji and stroke order

drum, beat, rouse
on: コ
kun: つづみ
13 strokes · JLPT 1
blow, breathe, puff
on: スイ
kun: ふ.く
7 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
たいこ taikodrum
こどう kodoubeat; palpitation; pulsation
こぶ kobuencouragement; inspiration; rousing
こまく komakueardrum; tympanic membrane
たいこばん taikobanlarge seal; large stamp
したつづみ shitatsuzumismacking one's lips (over food)
ふぶき fubukisnow storm; blizzard
すいそうがく suisougakuwind music; wind instrument music

See also: Chinese symbol for “inspiring”.

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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