King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “unfolding”

Romaji: tenkai
development; evolution; progression; unfolding

In Japanese, unfolding is , read (tenkai).

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, vi, vs development; evolution; progression; unfolding; (plot) twist
  2. n, vi, vs expansion; spreading out; extending; deployment; building up
  3. n, vi, vs expansion (of an algebraic expression) (math)
  4. n, vi, vs development (of a three-dimensional shape) (math)
  5. n, vi, vs extraction (of compressed data); decompression; unpacking (comp)
  6. n, vs, vt sharing (information) (bus)

Kanji and stroke order

unfold, expand
on: テン
10 strokes · JLPT 2
open, unfold, unseal
on: カイ
kun: ひら.く、ひら.き、-びら.き、ひら.ける
12 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “unfolding”

WordReadingMeaning
はってん hattendevelopment (of a situation, story, etc.); advancement; progression

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
はってん hattendevelopment; growth; expansion
てんじ tenjiexhibition; display
てんぼう tenbouview; outlook; prospect
しんてん shintenprogress; development
こてん kotensolo exhibition; one-man exhibition; one-woman exhibition
かいさい kaisaiholding (a conference, exhibition, etc.); opening; hosting (e.g. the Olympics)
こうかい koukaiopening to the public; making available to the public; exhibiting
かいはつ kaihatsudevelopment; cultivation; application

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.

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