Japanese symbol for “kun”
坤
こん
Romaji: kon
kun (one of the trigrams of the I Ching: earth, southwest)
In Japanese, kun is 坤, read こん (kon).
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 kun (one of the trigrams of the I Ching: earth, southwest)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “kun”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 鯤 | こん kon | kun (giant fish said to be able to turn into a bird) |
| 坤為地 | こんいち kon'ichi | kun (hexagram 2 of the I Ching: earth, the receptive) |
| 沢水困 | たくすいこん takusuikon | kun (hexagram 47 of the I Ching: oppression) |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 乾坤 | けんこん kenkon | heaven and earth; universe |
| 乾坤一擲 | けんこんいってき kenkon'itteki | stake all (on something); play for all or nothing; throwing all into a task |
| 別乾坤 | べっけんこん bekkenkon | otherworld; another world |
| 坤道 | こんどう kondou | the ways of the earth; the principle of the earth |
| 坤輿 | こんよ kon'yo | Earth; the world |
| 坤為地 | こんいち kon'ichi | kun (hexagram 2 of the I Ching: earth, the receptive) |
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.