Japanese symbol for “overcoming”
克服
こくふく
Romaji: kokufuku
conquest (of a difficulty, illness, crisis, etc.); overcoming; surmounting; bringing under control
In Japanese, overcoming is 克服, read こくふく (kokufuku).
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 conquest (of a difficulty, illness, crisis, etc.); overcoming; surmounting; bringing under control
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “overcoming”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 脱却 | だっきゃく dakkyaku | ridding oneself; freeing oneself of; growing out of |
| 征服 | せいふく seifuku | overcoming (a difficulty); conquering (e.g. a mountain); mastery (of a skill) |
| 突破 | とっぱ toppa | surmounting (a difficulty); overcoming; getting over |
| 超克 | ちょうこく choukoku | overcoming; conquering; surmounting |
| クリア | クリア kuria | overcoming; getting through; getting past |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 克明 | こくめい kokumei | detailed; scrupulous; careful |
| 下克上 | げこくじょう gekokujou | juniors dominating seniors; inferiors overthrowing their superiors; retainer supplanting his lord |
| 相克 | そうこく soukoku | rivalry (between two irreconcilable forces); conflict; strife |
| 克己 | こっき kokki | self-control; self-mastery; self-restraint |
| 超克 | ちょうこく choukoku | overcoming; conquering; surmounting |
| 制服 | せいふく seifuku | uniform |
| 服装 | ふくそう fukusou | attire; dress; clothes |
| 洋服 | ようふく youfuku | Western-style clothes (cf. traditional Japanese clothes) |
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.