King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “manuscript”

Romaji: genkou
manuscript; copy; draft; notes

In Japanese, manuscript is , read (genkou).

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 manuscript; copy; draft; notes; contribution

Kanji and stroke order

meadow, original, primitive
on: ゲン
kun: はら
10 strokes · JLPT 2
draft, copy, manuscript
on: コウ
kun: わら、したがき
15 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “manuscript”

WordReadingMeaning
こう koumanuscript; version; draft
しゃほん shahonmanuscript (book); written copy of a book; codex
そうこう soukounotes; draft; manuscript
こうほん kouhonmanuscript
しゅこう shukoumanuscript

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
げんいん gen'incause; origin; source
げんさく gensakuoriginal work
げんそく gensokuprinciple; general rule
げんしりょく genshiryokuatomic energy; nuclear power
げんり genriprinciple; theory; fundamental truth
とうこう toukoucontribution (to a newspaper, magazine, etc.); submission; post (on a blog, social media, etc.)
そうこう soukounotes; draft; manuscript
きこう kikoucontribution (e.g. to newspaper)

See also: Chinese symbol for “manuscript”.

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.