King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “pass”

Romaji: touge
(mountain) pass; highest point on a mountain road; ridge

In Japanese, pass is , read (touge).

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, n-suf (mountain) pass; highest point on a mountain road; ridge
  2. n peak (e.g. of summer); worst (e.g. of an illness); crisis; critical point; most difficult part

Kanji and stroke order

mountain peak, mountain pass, climax

kun: とうげ
9 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “pass”

WordReadingMeaning
ごうかく goukakupassing (an exam); pass; success
たつ tatsuto pass (of time); to elapse
へる heruto pass; to elapse; to go by
あかす akasuto pass (the night); to spend
とる toruto pass; to hand; to give

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
だいぼさつとうげ daibosatsutougeThe Sword of Doom (1966 film)
うすいとうげ usuitougeUsui Pass
とうげをこす tougeokosuto pass the peak (of something); to get through the most difficult part; to be over the worst (e.g. an illness)
とうげみち tougemichiroad over a mountain pass
とうげごえ tougegoecrossing a mountain pass
とうげバトル tougebatorumountain-pass street race

See also: Chinese symbol for “pass”.

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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