Japanese symbol for “recurring”

去来

きょらい

Romaji: kyorai

coming and going; recurring (esp. thoughts)

In Japanese, recurring is 去来, read きょらい (kyorai).

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

n, vi, vs coming and going; recurring (esp. thoughts)

Kanji and stroke order

去

gone, past, quit

on: キョ、コ
kun: さ.る、-さ.る

5 strokes · JLPT 3

来

come, due, next

on: ライ、タイ
kun: く.る、きた.る、きた.す、き.たす

7 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “recurring”

Word	Reading	Meaning
往来	おうらい ourai	recurring (e.g. thoughts)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
過去	かこ kako	the past; bygone days
去年	きょねん kyonen	last year
死去	しきょ shikyo	death; decease; passing away
撤去	てっきょ tekkyo	removal; taking away; dismantling (a building, facilities, etc.)
去る	さる saru	to leave; to go away
除去	じょきょ jokyo	removal; getting rid of
未来	みらい mirai	(distant) future
出来る	できる dekiru	to be able to do; to be possible; to be permitted (to do)

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.