Japanese symbol for “topsoil”

上層土

じょうそうど

Romaji: jousoudo

topsoil

In Japanese, topsoil is 上層土, read じょうそうど (jousoudo).

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 topsoil

Kanji and stroke order

上

above, up

on: ジョウ、ショウ、シャン
kun: うえ、-うえ、うわ-、かみ

3 strokes · JLPT 4

層

stratum, social class, layer

on: ソウ

14 strokes · JLPT 2

土

soil, earth, ground

on: ド、ト
kun: つち

3 strokes · JLPT 4

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
以上	いじょう ijou	not less than ...; ... and over; ... and above
売り上げ	うりあげ uriage	amount sold; sales; proceeds
上昇	じょうしょう joushou	rising; ascending; climbing
向上	こうじょう koujou	elevation; rise; improvement
上司	じょうし joushi	(one's) superior; (one's) boss; the higher-ups
地上	ちじょう chijou	above ground; on the ground; earth's surface
一層	いっそう issou	even more; still more; all the more
高層	こうそう kousou	high-rise (building); multistory; multistoried
土地	とち tochi	plot of land; lot; soil

See also: Chinese symbol for “topsoil”.

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.