King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “orient”

Romaji: touyou
the East; the Orient; (East) Asia

In Japanese, orient is , read (touyou).

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 the East; the Orient; (East) Asia
  2. n Japan

Kanji and stroke order

east
on: トウ
kun: ひがし
8 strokes · JLPT 4
ocean, sea, foreign
on: ヨウ
9 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “orient”

WordReadingMeaning
とうあ touaEast Asia; the Orient
とうほう touhouOriental country; the Orient
とうほう touhouthe Orient
オリエント orientoOrient
ほうこうづける houkouzukeruto direct; to guide; to orient

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
とうきょう toukyouTokyo
とうざい touzaieast and west
とうぶ toubueastern part; the east (of a region)
ほくとう hokutounortheast
とうほく touhokunorth-east
せいよう seiyouthe West; the Occident; Western countries
ようふく youfukuWestern-style clothes (cf. traditional Japanese clothes)
かいよう kaiyouocean; sea

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.

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