King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “keynote”

Romaji: kichou
basic tone; underlying tone; basic theme; basis

In Japanese, keynote is , read (kichou).

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 basic tone; underlying tone; basic theme; basis; keynote
  2. n trend
  3. n keynote (music)

Kanji and stroke order

fundamentals, radical (chem), counter for machines
on: キ
kun: もと、もとい
11 strokes · JLPT 2
tune, tone, meter
on: チョウ
kun: しら.べる、しら.べ、ととの.う、ととの.える
15 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “keynote”

WordReadingMeaning
しゅちょう shuchoukeynote
キーノート kiinootokeynote
しゅおん shuontonic; keynote
しゅちょうおん shuchouonkeynote
ほんちょうし honchoushikeynote (esp. shamisen); proper key

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きほん kihonbasics; fundamentals; basis
きじゅん kijunstandard; criterion; norm
きち kichibase (military, expedition, etc.)
きそ kisofoundation; basis
きばん kibanbase; basis; foundation
もとづく motozukuto be based (on); to be founded (on); to be grounded (on)
ちょうさ chousainvestigation; examination; inquiry
しらべ shirabeinvestigation; inspection; examination

See also: Chinese symbol for “keynote”.

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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