Japanese symbol for “spoken”

口頭

こうとう

Romaji: koutou

oral; verbal; spoken; parol

In Japanese, spoken is 口頭, read こうとう (koutou).

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

adj-no, n oral; verbal; spoken; parol

Kanji and stroke order

口

mouth

on: コウ、ク
kun: くち

3 strokes · JLPT 4

頭

head, counter for large animals

on: トウ、ズ、ト
kun: あたま、かしら、-がしら、かぶり

16 strokes · JLPT 3

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
人口	じんこう jinkou	population
悪口	わるぐち waruguchi	(verbal) abuse; speaking ill of people; bad-mouthing
窓口	まどぐち madoguchi	counter; window; teller window
出口	でぐち deguchi	exit; way out
入り口	いりぐち iriguchi	entrance; entry; gate
口座	こうざ kouza	account (e.g. bank)
冒頭	ぼうとう boutou	beginning; opening; start
先頭	せんとう sentou	head (of a line, group, etc.); front; lead

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.