Japanese symbol for “listening”
傍聴
ぼうちょう
Romaji: bouchou
listening (to a lecture, hearing, parliament session, etc.); attending (without participating); sitting in (e.g. on a meeting); observing
In Japanese, listening is 傍聴, read ぼうちょう (bouchou).
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, vs, vt listening (to a lecture, hearing, parliament session, etc.); attending (without participating); sitting in (e.g. on a meeting); observing
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “listening”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 聴聞 | ちょうもん choumon | listening; hearing |
| 聴取 | ちょうしゅ choushu | listening (e.g. to the radio) |
| ヒアリング | ヒアリング hiaringu | listening (esp. in foreign language education); listening comprehension |
| リスニング | リスニング risuningu | listening |
| 受話 | じゅわ juwa | reception (telephone); listening (to a telephone) |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 傍観 | ぼうかん boukan | looking on; standing by and watching; sitting back and watching |
| 傍ら | かたわら katawara | side; edge; beside |
| 傍受 | ぼうじゅ bouju | interception; monitoring; tapping |
| 傍若無人 | ぼうじゃくぶじん boujakubujin | behaving outrageously as though there were no one around; acting without consideration for others; arrogance |
| 路傍 | ろぼう robou | roadside |
| 視聴 | しちょう shichou | looking and listening; (television) viewing; watching |
| 聴衆 | ちょうしゅう choushuu | audience; attendance; hearers |
| 聴覚 | ちょうかく choukaku | (sense of) hearing; auditory perception |
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.