King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “surround”

Romaji: kakomu
to surround; to encircle; to enclose; to fence

In Japanese, surround is , read (kakomu).

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. v5m, vt to surround; to encircle; to enclose; to fence; to wall in
  2. v5m, vt to besiege; to lay siege to
  3. v5m, vt to play (go, shogi, etc.)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

surround, besiege, store
on: イ
kun: かこ.む、かこ.う、かこ.い
7 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “surround”

WordReadingMeaning
とりかこむ torikakomuto surround; to crowd around; to gather around
とりまく torimakuto surround; to encircle; to enclose
めぐる meguruto surround; to circle; to enclose
かこう kakouto enclose; to surround; to encircle
サラウンド saraundosurround (sound)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
ふんいき fun'ikiatmosphere; mood; ambience
はんい han'iextent; scope; sphere
しゅうい shuuisurroundings; environs
ほうい houisiege; encirclement; envelopment
いご igogo (board game)

See also: Chinese symbol for “surround”.

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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