Japanese symbol for “onus”

責任

せきにん

Romaji: sekinin

duty; responsibility (incl. supervision of staff)

In Japanese, onus is 責任, read せきにん (sekinin).

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 duty; responsibility (incl. supervision of staff)
n liability; onus

Kanji and stroke order

責

blame, condemn, censure

on: セキ
kun: せ.める

11 strokes · JLPT 2

任

responsibility, duty, term

on: ニン
kun: まか.せる、まか.す

6 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
責め	せめ seme	responsibility; liability; blame
責務	せきむ sekimu	duty; obligation
責める	せめる semeru	to condemn; to blame; to criticize
免責	めんせき menseki	exemption from responsibility
自責	じせき jiseki	self-condemnation; self-reproach; self-accusation
任務	にんむ ninmu	duty; function; office
就任	しゅうにん shuunin	assumption (of office); taking up (a post); inauguration
辞任	じにん jinin	resignation (from a position)

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.