King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “wise”

Romaji: kenmei
wise; sensible; well-advised; intelligent

In Japanese, wise is , read (kenmei).

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 wise; sensible; well-advised; intelligent; sagacious; prudent

Kanji and stroke order

intelligent, wise, wisdom
on: ケン
kun: かしこ.い
16 strokes · JLPT 2
bright, light
on: メイ、ミョウ、ミン
kun: あ.かり、あか.るい、あか.るむ、あか.らむ
8 strokes · JLPT 3

Other Japanese words for “wise”

WordReadingMeaning
かしこい kashikoiwise; clever; smart
そうめい soumeiwise; sagacious; intelligent
りこう rikouclever; intelligent; bright
えいめい eimeiintelligent; wise; bright
ワイズ waizuwise

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かしこい kashikoiwise; clever; smart
けんじん kenjinwise person; virtuous person; sage
けんじゃ kenjawise person; sage
かしこどころ kashikodokoropalace sanctuary
こざかしい kozakashiismart-alecky; clever-clever; cheeky
せつめい setsumeiexplanation; exposition; description
あした ashitatomorrow
あきらか akirakaclear; obvious; evident

See also: Chinese symbol for “wise”.

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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