King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “reformatory”

Romaji: shounen'in
reformatory; juvenile training school; reform school; youth detention center (centre)

In Japanese, reformatory is , read (shounen'in).

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 reformatory; juvenile training school; reform school; youth detention center (centre)

Kanji and stroke order

few, little
on: ショウ
kun: すく.ない、すこ.し
4 strokes · JLPT 4
year, counter for years
on: ネン
kun: とし
6 strokes · JLPT 4
Inst., institution, temple
on: イン
10 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “reformatory”

WordReadingMeaning
かんかいん kankainreformatory; reform school
ちょうじかん choujikanreformatory
きょうせいいん kyouseiinreformatory; house of correction
きょうせいしせつ kyouseishisetsucorrectional facility (for juveniles); juvenile detention centre (center); reformatory

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
すこし sukoshia little; a bit; a small amount
しょうねん shounenboy
しょうじょ shoujogirl (usu. between 7 and 17); young lady
すくない sukunaifew; little; small (amount)
げんしょう genshoudecrease; reduction; decline
たしょう tashoua little; some; somewhat
ことし kotoshithis year
ねんかん nenkan(period of) a year
びょういん byouinhospital; clinic; doctor's office

See also: Chinese symbol for “reformatory”.

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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