King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “popular”

Romaji: sakan
prosperous; flourishing; thriving; successful

In Japanese, popular is , read (sakan).

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. adj-na prosperous; flourishing; thriving; successful
  2. adj-na popular; widespread
  3. adj-na active; lively; energetic; vigorous; brisk; strong
  4. adj-na enthusiastic; eager; hearty; frequent; repeated

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

boom, prosper, copulate
on: セイ、ジョウ
kun: も.る、さか.る、さか.ん
11 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “popular”

WordReadingMeaning
みんかん minkanfolk; popular
ポピュラー popyuraapopular; well-liked
つうぞく tsuuzokupopular; common
ポップ poppupop; popular; fashionable
しょみんてき shomintekipopular; folksy; plebeian

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さかり sakariheight (e.g. of summer); peak (e.g. of cherry blossom season); (in) season
せいだい seidaigrand; magnificent; lavish
はんじょう hanjouprosperity; flourishing; thriving
もる moruto serve (in a bowl, on a plate, etc.); to dish out; to dish up
おうせい ouseilively; vigorous; energetic

See also: Chinese symbol for “popular”.

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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