King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “pavement”

Romaji: hodou
footpath; walkway; sidewalk; pavement

In Japanese, pavement is , read (hodou).

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 footpath; walkway; sidewalk; pavement

Kanji and stroke order

walk, counter for steps
on: ホ、ブ、フ
kun: ある.く、あゆ.む
8 strokes · JLPT 3
road-way, street, district
on: ドウ、トウ
kun: みち、いう
12 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “pavement”

WordReadingMeaning
ほそう hosoupaving (a road); surfacing (with asphalt, concrete, etc.); pavement
しきいし shikiishipaving stone; pavement
ペーブメント peebumentopavement; paved road (esp. stone-paved)
サイドウォーク saidowookuside walk; sidewalk; footpath

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
とほ tohowalking; going on foot
さんぽ sanpowalk; stroll
しんぽ shinpoprogress; advance; improvement
じょうほ jouhoconcession; conciliation; compromise
ほこう hokouwalking; walk
ほうどう houdoureport (of news); reporting; news
どうろ douroroad; highway
てつどう tetsudourailroad; railway; rail transport

See also: Chinese symbol for “pavement”.

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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