King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “umpire”

Romaji: shinpan
judgement; judgment; decision; verdict

In Japanese, umpire is , read (shinpan).

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, vs, vt judgement; judgment; decision; verdict; sentence
  2. n, vs, vt refereeing; umpiring; judging
  3. n, vs, vt judgement (of God) (Christn)
  4. n referee; umpire; judge

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

hearing, judge, trial
on: シン
kun: つまび.らか、つぶさ.に
15 strokes · JLPT 1
judgement, judgment, signature
on: ハン、バン
kun: わか.る
7 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “umpire”

WordReadingMeaning
アンパイア anpaiaumpire
しんぱんやく shinpan'yakuumpire; referee
しんぱんいん shinpan'inreferee; umpire

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
しんぎ shingideliberation; discussion; consideration
ふしん fushindoubt; suspicion; question
しんさ shinsajudging; inspection; examination
しんり shinritrial
しんもん shinmontrial; hearing; inquiry
はんだん handanjudgment; judgement; decision
ひはん hihancriticism; judgement; judgment
さいばん saibantrial; judgement; judgment

See also: Chinese symbol for “umpire”.

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.