Japanese symbol for “study”
勉強
べんきょう
Romaji: benkyou
study
In Japanese, study is 勉強, read べんきょう (benkyou).
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, vs, vt study
- n, vi, vs diligence; working hard
- n experience; knowledge; lesson (for the future)
- n, vi, vs discount; price reduction
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “study”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 研究 | けんきゅう kenkyuu | research; study; investigation |
| 学問 | がくもん gakumon | study; scholarship; learning |
| 検討 | けんとう kentou | consideration; examination; investigation |
| 学習 | がくしゅう gakushuu | learning; study |
| 書斎 | しょさい shosai | study; library; den |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 勤勉 | きんべん kinben | diligent; hard-working; industrious |
| 勉学 | べんがく bengaku | study; pursuit of knowledge |
| 勉励 | べんれい benrei | diligence |
| 勉強中 | べんきょうちゅう benkyouchuu | while studying; presently studying |
| ガリ勉 | がりべん gariben | person who studies very hard (at school); grind; swot |
| 強化 | きょうか kyouka | strengthening; intensifying; reinforcement |
| 強い | つよい tsuyoi | strong; potent; competent |
| 強制 | きょうせい kyousei | compulsion; coercion; forcing (to do) |
See also: Chinese symbol for “study”.
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.