King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “protection”

Romaji: hogo
protection; safeguard; guardianship; custody

In Japanese, protection is , read (hogo).

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, vs, vt protection; safeguard; guardianship; custody; patronage
  2. n, vs, vt preservation; conservation

Kanji and stroke order

protect, guarantee, keep
on: ホ、ホウ
kun: たも.つ
9 strokes · JLPT 2
safeguard, protect
on: ゴ
kun: まも.る
20 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “protection”

WordReadingMeaning
ようご yougoprotection; defence; support
まもり mamoriprotection; defense; defence
ぼうえい boueidefense; defence; protection
よぼう yobouprevention; protection (against); precaution
ぼうご bougoprotection

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ほけん hokeninsurance
かくほ kakuhosecuring; obtaining; ensuring
ほぞん hozonpreservation; conservation; storage
ほしょう hoshouguarantee; security; assurance
ほしゅ hoshumaintenance
べんごし bengoshilawyer; attorney
かんご kangonursing; (army) nurse
べんご bengodefense; defence; pleading

See also: Chinese symbol for “protection”.

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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