King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “retention”

Romaji: hoji
retention; maintenance; preservation

In Japanese, retention is , read (hoji).

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 retention; maintenance; preservation

Kanji and stroke order

protect, guarantee, keep
on: ホ、ホウ
kun: たも.つ
9 strokes · JLPT 2
hold, have
on: ジ
kun: も.つ、-も.ち、も.てる
9 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “retention”

WordReadingMeaning
ほゆう hoyuupossession; retention; maintenance
そんぞく sonzokucontinuance; survival; persistence
ちょりゅう choryuuaccumulation (e.g. of water); retention; storage
リテンション ritenshonretention
りょうち ryouchiretention; keeping in custody (e.g. of a court)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ほご hogoprotection; safeguard; guardianship
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
きもち kimochifeeling; sensation; mood
もつ motsuto hold (in one's hand); to take; to carry

See also: Chinese symbol for “retention”.

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.