King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “posterity”

Romaji: kousei
posterity; future generations; future life

In Japanese, posterity is , read (kousei).

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. adv, n posterity; future generations; future life

Kanji and stroke order

behind, back, later
on: ゴ、コウ
kun: のち、うし.ろ、うしろ、あと
9 strokes · JLPT 4
generation, world, society
on: セイ、セ、ソウ
kun: よ
5 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “posterity”

WordReadingMeaning
すえ suedescendants; offspring; posterity
こうだい koudaiposterity; future generations
まごこ magokochildren and grandchildren; posterity; descendants
こうよう kouyouposterity; future generations; descendant
こうじん koujinposterity; future generations

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さいご saigoend; conclusion
こんご kongofrom now on; hereafter
ごご gogoafternoon; p.m.
こうはん kouhansecond half; latter half
うしろ ushiroback; behind; rear
ちょくご chokugoimmediately following
せかい sekaithe world; society; the universe
せだい sedaigeneration

See also: Chinese symbol for “posterity”.

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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