King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “preliminaries”

Romaji: yobi
reserve; spare

In Japanese, preliminaries is , read (yobi).

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 reserve; spare
  2. adj-no, n preparation; preliminaries

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

beforehand, previous, myself
on: ヨ、シャ
kun: あらかじ.め
4 strokes · JLPT 2
equip, provision, preparation
on: ビ
kun: そな.える、そな.わる、つぶさ.に
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “preliminaries”

WordReadingMeaning
よせんかい yosenkaiqualifying tournament; preliminaries; trials
よびこうさく yobikousakuspade work; preliminaries
まえづけ maezukefront matter (of a book); preliminaries

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
よてい yoteiplans; arrangement; schedule
よそう yosouexpectation; anticipation; prediction
よやく yoyakureservation; appointment; booking
よさん yosanestimate (of costs); budget
よせん yosenpreliminary contest; qualifying round; trial
じゅんび junbipreparation; arrangements; getting ready
せいび seibimaintenance; servicing
せつび setsubiequipment; facilities; installation

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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