Japanese symbol for “temperance”
禁酒
きんしゅ
Romaji: kinshu
abstinence from alcohol; temperance
In Japanese, temperance is 禁酒, read きんしゅ (kinshu).
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, vi, vs abstinence from alcohol; temperance
- n, vi, vs prohibition of drinking
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “temperance”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 節制 | せっせい sessei | moderation; self-restraint; temperance |
| 節酒 | せっしゅ sesshu | moderation in drinking; cutting down on one's drinking; temperance |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 禁止 | きんし kinshi | prohibition; inhibition; ban |
| 禁煙 | きんえん kin'en | abstaining from smoking; quitting smoking |
| 監禁 | かんきん kankin | confinement; imprisonment; incarceration |
| 解禁 | かいきん kaikin | lifting a ban; raising an embargo; opening a season (hunting, fishing, etc.) |
| 禁物 | きんもつ kinmotsu | thing that should be (carefully) avoided; no-no; thing to definitely not do |
| 禁じる | きんじる kinjiru | to forbid; to ban; to prohibit |
| 居酒屋 | いざかや izakaya | izakaya; tavern, bar, etc. that also serves various dishes and snacks |
| 酒屋 | さかや sakaya | liquor store; wine shop; bottle shop |
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.