Japanese symbol for “older”

年上

としうえ

Romaji: toshiue

older; senior

In Japanese, older is 年上, read としうえ (toshiue).

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

adj-no, n older; senior

Kanji and stroke order

年

year, counter for years

on: ネン
kun: とし

6 strokes · JLPT 4

上

above, up

on: ジョウ、ショウ、シャン
kun: うえ、-うえ、うわ-、かみ

3 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “older”

Word	Reading	Meaning
大きい	おおきい ookii	older; grown-up
年長	ねんちょう nenchou	senior; older
大	おお oo	older; senior
年配	ねんぱい nenpai	older (than); senior
上	うえ ue	elder; older; senior

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
今年	ことし kotoshi	this year
年間	ねんかん nenkan	(period of) a year
少年	しょうねん shounen	boy
年齢	ねんれい nenrei	age; years
年度	ねんど nendo	fiscal year (usu. April 1 to March 31 in Japan); financial year
年代	ねんだい nendai	age; era; period
以上	いじょう ijou	not less than ...; ... and over; ... and above
売り上げ	うりあげ uriage	amount sold; sales; proceeds

See also: Chinese symbol for “older”.

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.