King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “orientation”

Romaji: houkou
direction; orientation; bearing; way

In Japanese, orientation is , read (houkou).

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 direction; orientation; bearing; way
  2. n course (e.g. of action)

Kanji and stroke order

direction, person, alternative
on: ホウ
kun: かた、-かた、-がた
4 strokes · JLPT 3
yonder, facing, beyond
on: コウ
kun: む.く、む.い、-む.き、む.ける
6 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “orientation”

WordReadingMeaning
むき mukidirection; orientation; aspect
しこう shikouintention; aim; preference (for)
はいこう haikouorientation
オリエンテーション orienteeshonorientation
ていい teiiposition; orientation

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ほうほう houhoumethod; way; manner
いっぽう ippouone (esp. of two); the other; one way
ちほう chihoudistrict; region; area
しかた shikataway; method; means
ほうしん houshinpolicy; course; plan (of action)
けいこう keikoutendency; trend; inclination
こうじょう koujouelevation; rise; improvement
むき mukidirection; orientation; aspect

See also: Chinese symbol for “orientation”.

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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