Japanese symbol for “surrendering”

返上

へんじょう

Romaji: henjou

return; giving back; giving up; relinquishing

In Japanese, surrendering is 返上, read へんじょう (henjou).

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 return; giving back; giving up; relinquishing; surrendering

Kanji and stroke order

返

return, answer, fade

on: ヘン
kun: かえ.す、-かえ.す、かえ.る、-かえ.る

7 strokes · JLPT 2

上

above, up

on: ジョウ、ショウ、シャン
kun: うえ、-うえ、うわ-、かみ

3 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “surrendering”

Word	Reading	Meaning
ギブアップ	ギブアップ gibuappu	giving up; quitting; surrendering

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
返事	へんじ henji	reply; answer; response
繰り返す	くりかえす kurikaesu	to repeat; to do over again
返還	へんかん henkan	return; restoration
返済	へんさい hensai	repayment; reimbursement; refund
返信	へんしん henshin	reply (e.g. email, fax, letter); answer
返す	かえす kaesu	to return (something); to restore; to put back
以上	いじょう ijou	not less than ...; ... and over; ... and above
売り上げ	うりあげ uriage	amount sold; sales; proceeds

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.