Japanese symbol for “nurturing”

保育

ほいく

Romaji: hoiku

nurturing; rearing; childcare; day care

In Japanese, nurturing is 保育, read ほいく (hoiku).

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 nurturing; rearing; childcare; day care

Kanji and stroke order

保

protect, guarantee, keep

on: ホ、ホウ
kun: たも.つ

9 strokes · JLPT 2

育

bring up, grow up, raise

on: イク
kun: そだ.つ、そだ.ち、そだ.てる、はぐく.む

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
保護	ほご hogo	protection; safeguard; guardianship
保険	ほけん hoken	insurance
確保	かくほ kakuho	securing; obtaining; ensuring
保存	ほぞん hozon	preservation; conservation; storage
保証	ほしょう hoshou	guarantee; security; assurance
保守	ほしゅ hoshu	maintenance
教育	きょういく kyouiku	education; schooling; training
体育	たいいく taiiku	physical education; PE; gym (class)

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.