King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “safeguard”

Romaji: hogo
protection; safeguard; guardianship; custody

In Japanese, safeguard is , read (hogo).

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 protection; safeguard; guardianship; custody; patronage
  2. n, vs, vt preservation; conservation

Kanji and stroke order

protect, guarantee, keep
on: ホ、ホウ
kun: たも.つ
9 strokes · JLPT 2
safeguard, protect
on: ゴ
kun: まも.る
20 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “safeguard”

WordReadingMeaning
ぼうぎょ bougyodefense; defence; safeguard
しゅご shugoprotection; safeguard
ほえい hoeidefense; defence; protection
ほしょうそち hoshousochisafeguard
ほごきのう hogokinousafeguard

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
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
べんごし bengoshilawyer; attorney
かんご kangonursing; (army) nurse
べんご bengodefense; defence; pleading

See also: Chinese symbol for “safeguard”.

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.