King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “progeny”

Romaji: shison
descendant; progeny; offspring

In Japanese, progeny is , read (shison).

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 descendant; progeny; offspring

Kanji and stroke order

child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM
on: シ、ス、ツ
kun: こ、-こ、ね
3 strokes · JLPT 4
grandchild, descendants
on: ソン
kun: まご
10 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “progeny”

WordReadingMeaning
たね taneprogeny; offspring; issue
さんし sanshioffspring (esp. livestock); progeny

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
こども kodomochild; children
じょし joshiwoman; girl
おんなのこ onnanokogirl; daughter; baby girl
だんし danshiboy
むすこ musukoson
ようす yousustate (of affairs); situation; circumstances
まごむすめ magomusumegranddaughter
まごこ magokochildren and grandchildren; posterity; descendants

See also: Chinese symbol for “progeny”.

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.