King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “thoughts”

Romaji: kansou
impressions; thoughts; feelings; reactions

In Japanese, thoughts is , read (kansou).

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. n impressions; thoughts; feelings; reactions

Kanji and stroke order

emotion, feeling, sensation
on: カン
13 strokes · JLPT 2
idea, thought, conception
on: ソウ、ソ
kun: おも.う
13 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “thoughts”

WordReadingMeaning
い ifeelings; thoughts
しょかん shokanimpressions; thoughts; feelings
おぼしめし oboshimeshithoughts; opinion; (one's) discretion
しょし shoshithoughts; opinions
ぎょし gyoshithoughts; feelings

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かんじ kanjifeeling; sense; impression
かんしゃ kanshathanks; gratitude; appreciation
かんかく kankakusense; sensation; feeling
かんじる kanjiruto feel; to sense; to experience
かんじょう kanjouemotion; feeling; feelings
かんせん kanseninfection; contagion; becoming infected
よそう yosouexpectation; anticipation; prediction
そうぞう souzouimagination; supposition; guess

See also: Chinese symbol for “thoughts”.

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.