King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “thrift”

Romaji: ken'yaku
thrift; economy; frugality

In Japanese, thrift is , read (ken'yaku).

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. adj-na, n, vs thrift; economy; frugality

Kanji and stroke order

frugal, economy, thrifty
on: ケン
kun: つま.しい、つづまやか
10 strokes · JLPT 1
promise, approximately, shrink
on: ヤク
kun: つづ.まる、つづ.める、つづま.やか
9 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “thrift”

WordReadingMeaning
けいざい keizaibeing economical; economy; thrift
アルメリア arumeriathrift (Armeria maritima); sea thrift; sea pink
はまかんざし hamakanzashithrift (Armeria maritima); sea thrift; sea pink
しまり shimaricarefulness (with money); economy; thrift
せっけん sekkeneconomy; thrift

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
きんけん kinkenindustry; diligence; frugality
つましい tsumashiithrifty; frugal; economical
けんそ kensoeconomical and simple
けんやくか ken'yakukathrifty person; frugal person; economizer
せっけん sekkeneconomy; thrift
けいやく keiyakucontract; compact; agreement
よやく yoyakureservation; appointment; booking
やくそく yakusokupromise; agreement; arrangement

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.