Japanese symbol for “survive”
生き残る
いきのこる
Romaji: ikinokoru
to survive
In Japanese, survive is 生き残る, read いきのこる (ikinokoru).
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
- v5r, vi to survive
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “survive”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 助かる | たすかる tasukaru | to be saved; to be rescued; to survive |
| 持つ | もつ motsu | to last; to be durable; to keep |
| 生き延びる | いきのびる ikinobiru | to survive; to live long |
| 食う | くう kuu | to live; to make a living; to survive |
| 立つ | たつ tatsu | to be sustained (of a living, business, etc.); to be maintained; to survive |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 生活 | せいかつ seikatsu | life; living |
| 先生 | せんせい sensei | teacher; instructor; master |
| 人生 | じんせい jinsei | (one's) life |
| 学生 | がくせい gakusei | student (esp. a university student) |
| 発生 | はっせい hassei | occurrence; incidence; outbreak |
| 誕生 | たんじょう tanjou | birth (of a person); nativity |
| 残念 | ざんねん zannen | regrettable; unfortunate; disappointing |
| 残り | のこり nokori | remainder; remnant; the rest |
See also: Chinese symbol for “survive”.
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.