Japanese symbol for “leaving”

出発

しゅっぱつ

Romaji: shuppatsu

departure; leaving; setting off

In Japanese, leaving is 出発, read しゅっぱつ (shuppatsu).

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, vi, vs departure; leaving; setting off

Kanji and stroke order

出

exit, leave, go out

on: シュツ、スイ
kun: で.る、-で、だ.す、-だ.す

5 strokes · JLPT 4

発

departure, discharge, publish

on: ハツ、ホツ
kun: た.つ、あば.く、おこ.る、つか.わす

9 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “leaving”

Word	Reading	Meaning
外出	がいしゅつ gaishutsu	going out; outing; leaving (one's home, office, etc.)
退場	たいじょう taijou	leaving (a hall, meeting, stadium, etc.); exit; walkout
卒業	そつぎょう sotsugyou	leaving (a group, company, etc.); quitting
脱退	だったい dattai	withdrawal (e.g. from an organization); secession; leaving
退団	たいだん taidan	leaving (a group, team, etc.)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
出演	しゅつえん shutsuen	appearance (in a film, play, TV show, etc.); performance
出す	だす dasu	to take out; to get out
出る	でる deru	to leave; to exit; to go out
出来る	できる dekiru	to be able to do; to be possible; to be permitted (to do)
出身	しゅっしん shusshin	one's origin (e.g. city, country, parentage, school)
演出	えんしゅつ enshutsu	direction (of a play, film, etc.); production
発売	はつばい hatsubai	sale; offering for sale; putting on sale
発表	はっぴょう happyou	announcement; publication; presenting

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.