King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “principle”

Romaji: gensoku
principle; general rule

In Japanese, principle is , read (gensoku).

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 principle; general rule
  2. adv, n as a rule; in principle; in general

Kanji and stroke order

meadow, original, primitive
on: ゲン
kun: はら
10 strokes · JLPT 2
rule, law, follow
on: ソク
kun: のっと.る、のり、すなわち
9 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “principle”

WordReadingMeaning
げんり genriprinciple; theory; fundamental truth
しゅぎ shugidoctrine; rule; principle
ほうしん houshinpolicy; course; plan (of action)
むね muneprinciple; aim; main purpose
り rireason; principle; logic

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
げんいん gen'incause; origin; source
げんさく gensakuoriginal work
げんしりょく genshiryokuatomic energy; nuclear power
げんり genriprinciple; theory; fundamental truth
げんこう genkoumanuscript; copy; draft
きそく kisokurule; regulation
ほうそく housokulaw; rule
はんそく hansokufoul; breaking the rules

See also: Chinese symbol for “principle”.

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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