Japanese symbol for “overprotective”

過保護

かほご

Romaji: kahogo

overprotective; excessive care; overprotection; overprotectiveness

In Japanese, overprotective is 過保護, read かほご (kahogo).

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-na, adj-no, n overprotective; excessive care; overprotection; overprotectiveness

Kanji and stroke order

過

overdo, exceed, go beyond

on: カ
kun: す.ぎる、す.ごす、あやま.ち、あやま.つ

12 strokes · JLPT 2

保

protect, guarantee, keep

on: ホ、ホウ
kun: たも.つ

9 strokes · JLPT 2

護

safeguard, protect

on: ゴ
kun: まも.る

20 strokes · JLPT 1

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
過去	かこ kako	the past; bygone days
過ぎ	すぎ sugi	past; after
過程	かてい katei	process; course; mechanism
経過	けいか keika	passage (of time); elapsing; lapse
通過	つうか tsuuka	passing through (a tunnel, station, town, etc.); passing by (e.g. of a typhoon); transit
過剰	かじょう kajou	excess; surplus; superabundance
保護	ほご hogo	protection; safeguard; guardianship
保険	ほけん hoken	insurance
弁護士	べんごし bengoshi	lawyer; attorney

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.