King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “recently”

Romaji: saikin
recently; lately; these days; nowadays

In Japanese, recently is , read (saikin).

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, adv, n recently; lately; these days; nowadays; right now
  2. adj-no nearest; closest

Kanji and stroke order

utmost, most, extreme
on: サイ、シュ
kun: もっと.も、つま
12 strokes · JLPT 2
near, early, akin
on: キン、コン
kun: ちか.い
7 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “recently”

WordReadingMeaning
こんど kondorecently; lately; the other day
きょう kyouthese days; recently; nowadays
さっこん sakkonthese days; nowadays; recently
このあいだ konoaidathe other day; lately; recently
せんだって sendattethe other day; some time ago; recently

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
さいご saigoend; conclusion
さいしょ saishobeginning; outset; first
さいこう saikoubest; supreme; wonderful
さいしゅう saishuulast; final; closing
さいだい saidaibiggest; greatest; largest
きんじょ kinjoneighbourhood; neighborhood; vicinity
ふきん fukinneighborhood; neighbourhood; vicinity
ちかい chikainear; close; short (distance)

See also: Chinese symbol for “recently”.

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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