King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “siege”

Romaji: houi
siege; encirclement; envelopment; surrounding

In Japanese, siege is , read (houi).

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 siege; encirclement; envelopment; surrounding; besiegement

Kanji and stroke order

wrap, pack up, cover
on: ホウ
kun: つつ.む、くる.む
5 strokes · JLPT 2
surround, besiege, store
on: イ
kun: かこ.む、かこ.う、かこ.い
7 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “siege”

WordReadingMeaning
かこみ kakomisiege
こうい kouisiege
ほういせん houisensiege; besiegement; battle of encirclement
こうじょうせん koujousensiege; siege warfare

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ほうちょう houchoukitchen knife
ほうそう housoupacking; wrapping
つつむ tsutsumuto wrap up; to pack; to bundle
つつみ tsutsumibundle; package; parcel
ほうかつ houkatsuinclusion; complete coverage; comprehensiveness
ふんいき fun'ikiatmosphere; mood; ambience
はんい han'iextent; scope; sphere
しゅうい shuuisurroundings; environs

See also: Chinese symbol for “siege”.

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.