King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “preface”

Romaji: jobun
preface; foreword; introduction

In Japanese, preface is , read (jobun).

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 preface; foreword; introduction

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

preface, beginning, order
on: ジョ
kun: つい.で、ついで
7 strokes · JLPT 1
sentence, literature, style
on: ブン、モン
kun: ふみ、あや
4 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “preface”

WordReadingMeaning
まえおき maeokipreface; introduction; preamble
じょしょう joshoupreface; foreword; introduction
まえがき maegakipreface; foreword; preamble
まくらことば makurakotobapreface; introduction
じょろん joronintroduction; preface

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ちつじょ chitsujoorder; discipline; regularity
じゅんじょ junjoorder; sequence
じょばん jobanopening (in a game of go, chess, etc.)
じょきょく jokyokuoverture; prelude
じょれつ joretsurank; ranking order; hierarchy
ぶんか bunkaculture; civilization; civilisation
もじ mojiletter (of an alphabet); character
ちゅうもん chuumonorder (for an item)

See also: Chinese symbol for “preface”.

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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