Japanese symbol for “respiration”
呼吸
こきゅう
Romaji: kokyuu
breathing; respiration
In Japanese, respiration is 呼吸, read こきゅう (kokyuu).
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 breathing; respiration
- n knack; trick; secret (of doing something)
- n harmony; balance; synchronization; accord
- n short interval; short pause
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “respiration”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 息遣い | いきづかい ikizukai | breathing; respiration |
| 阿吽 | あうん aun | inspiration and expiration; respiration; alpha and omega |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 呼ぶ | よぶ yobu | to call out (to); to call; to invoke |
| 呼びかけ | よびかけ yobikake | call; appeal |
| 呼び名 | よびな yobina | popular name; common name; given name |
| 呼び出す | よびだす yobidasu | to call (someone) to (the door, phone, etc.); to tell (someone) to come; to call up (on the phone) |
| 呼び出し | よびだし yobidashi | call; summons; paging |
| 吸収 | きゅうしゅう kyuushuu | absorption; suction; attraction |
| 吸う | すう suu | to breathe in; to inhale; to smoke (a cigarette, etc.) |
| 吸引 | きゅういん kyuuin | absorption; suction; aspiration |
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.