King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “leadership”

Romaji: shidou
guidance; leadership; instruction; direction

In Japanese, leadership is , read (shidou).

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 guidance; leadership; instruction; direction; coaching
  2. n shido (minor penalty in judo) (MA)

Kanji and stroke order

finger, point to, indicate
on: シ
kun: ゆび、さ.す、-さ.し
9 strokes · JLPT 2
guidance, leading, conduct
on: ドウ
kun: みちび.く
15 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “leadership”

WordReadingMeaning
しゅどう shudouleadership; initiative; spearhead
かんぶ kanbumanagement; (executive) staff; leaders
せんどう sendouguidance; leadership; leading the way
とうそつ tousotsucommand; lead; generalship
リーダーシップ riidaashippuleadership

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
してい shiteidesignation; specification; assignment
してき shitekipointing out; identification
しじ shijiindication; denotation; designation
しき shikicommand; direction; supervision
ゆびわ yubiwa(finger) ring
どうにゅう dounyuuintroduction; bringing in; installation
ゆうどう yuudouguidance; leading; induction
はんどうたい handoutaisemiconductor

See also: Chinese symbol for “leadership”.

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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