Japanese symbol for “sailing”
航海
こうかい
Romaji: koukai
(sea) voyage; navigation; sailing; passage
In Japanese, sailing is 航海, read こうかい (koukai).
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 (sea) voyage; navigation; sailing; passage; cruise
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “sailing”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 便 | びん bin | flight (e.g. airline flight); trip (e.g. train trip); sailing (e.g. ferry voyage) |
| 航法 | こうほう kouhou | sailing; navigation |
| 帆走 | はんそう hansou | sailing |
| 航行 | こうこう koukou | cruise; navigation; sailing |
| 通航 | つうこう tsuukou | navigation; sailing |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 航空 | こうくう koukuu | aviation; flying |
| 航空機 | こうくうき koukuuki | aircraft |
| 航路 | こうろ kouro | (air or sea) route; course; line |
| 難航 | なんこう nankou | difficult voyage; stormy passage; hard flight |
| 渡航 | とこう tokou | voyage; passage; travelling |
| 海外 | かいがい kaigai | foreign; abroad; overseas |
| 海岸 | かいがん kaigan | seashore; coast; seaside |
| 海軍 | かいぐん kaigun | navy; naval force |
See also: Chinese symbol for “sailing”.
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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