King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “upstream”

Romaji: kawakami
upper reaches of a river; upstream

In Japanese, upstream is , read (kawakami).

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 upper reaches of a river; upstream

Kanji and stroke order

stream, river, river or three-stroke river radical (no. 47)
on: セン
kun: かわ
3 strokes · JLPT 4
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

Other Japanese words for “upstream”

WordReadingMeaning
のぼり noboriupstream; uphill
じょうりゅう jouryuuupstream
アップストリーム appusutoriimuupstream

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
おがわ ogawastream; brook; creek
かせん kasenrivers
たにがわ tanigawamountain stream
せんりゅう senryuusenryū; comic haiku; humorous seventeen-mora poem
かわぎし kawagishiriverbank; riverside
いじょう ijounot less than ...; ... and over; ... and above
うりあげ uriageamount sold; sales; proceeds
じょうしょう joushourising; ascending; climbing

See also: Chinese symbol for “upstream”.

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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