Japanese symbol for “perpetually”

年中

ねんじゅう

Romaji: nenjuu

whole year; all year round; throughout the year

In Japanese, perpetually is 年中, read ねんじゅう (nenjuu).

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 whole year; all year round; throughout the year
adv always; all the time; perpetually
n during an era
n second-year kindergarten student

Written forms: 年中、年じゅう. Readings: ねんじゅう、ねんちゅう、ねんぢゅう.

Kanji and stroke order

年

year, counter for years

on: ネン
kun: とし

6 strokes · JLPT 4

中

in, inside, middle

on: チュウ
kun: なか、うち、あた.る

4 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
今年	ことし kotoshi	this year
年間	ねんかん nenkan	(period of) a year
少年	しょうねん shounen	boy
年齢	ねんれい nenrei	age; years
年度	ねんど nendo	fiscal year (usu. April 1 to March 31 in Japan); financial year
年代	ねんだい nendai	age; era; period
中心	ちゅうしん chuushin	center; centre; middle
途中	とちゅう tochuu	on the way; en route

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.