King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “minority”

Romaji: miseinen
minority (i.e. being under age); minor; underage person

In Japanese, minority is , read (miseinen).

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. adj-no, n minority (i.e. being under age); minor; underage person

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

un-, not yet, hitherto
on: ミ、ビ
kun: いま.だ、ま.だ、ひつじ
5 strokes · JLPT 2
turn into, become, get
on: セイ、ジョウ
kun: な.る、な.す、-な.す
6 strokes · JLPT 2
year, counter for years
on: ネン
kun: とし
6 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “minority”

WordReadingMeaning
しょうすう shousuusmall number; few; minority
か kaminority; small numbers
マイノリティー mainoritiiminority
しょうすうしゃ shousuushathe minority
しょうすうは shousuuhaminority group (party); minority

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
みらい mirai(distant) future
みすい misuifailed attempt (at a crime, suicide, etc.)
みてい miteinot yet fixed; undecided; pending
みち michinot yet known; unknown; strange
みまん mimanless than; under; below
せいこう seikousuccess; achievement
せいちょう seichougrowth; development; growing up
かんせい kanseicompletion; perfection; accomplishment
ことし kotoshithis year

See also: Chinese symbol for “minority”.

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.