King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “preceding”

Romaji: senkou
going ahead; going first

In Japanese, preceding is , read (senkou).

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-no, n, vi going ahead; going first
  2. adj-no, n, vi preceding; coming before; being ahead (e.g. of the times); occurring first; happening prior
  3. n, vi, vs scoring first; getting off to a lead (sports)
  4. n stalker (horse)

Kanji and stroke order

before, ahead, previous
on: セン
kun: さき、ま.ず
6 strokes · JLPT 4
going, journey, carry out
on: コウ、ギョウ、アン
kun: い.く、ゆ.く、-ゆ.き、-ゆき
6 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “preceding”

WordReadingMeaning
うき ukiaforementioned (statement); preceding; at right
せんかい senkailast time; the last; the preceding
このまえ konomaelast (Sunday, summer, etc.); previous (e.g. mayor, chapter); preceding

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
せんせい senseiteacher; instructor; master
ゆうせん yuusenpreference; priority; precedence
せんぱい senpaisenior (at school, work, etc.); superior; elder
せんじつ senjitsuthe other day; a few days ago
せんしゅう senshuulast week; the week before
せんげつ sengetsulast month
こうどう koudouaction; conduct; behaviour
おこなう okonauto perform; to do; to conduct oneself

See also: Chinese symbol for “preceding”.

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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