Japanese symbol for “younger”

年下

としした

Romaji: toshishita

younger; junior

In Japanese, younger is 年下, read としした (toshishita).

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

adj-no, n younger; junior

Kanji and stroke order

年

year, counter for years

on: ネン
kun: とし

6 strokes · JLPT 4

下

below, down, descend

on: カ、ゲ
kun: した、しも、もと、さ.げる

3 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Japanese words for “younger”

Word	Reading	Meaning
下	した shita	below; down; under
小	しょう shou	younger (of two people with the same name); junior
弟	おと oto	young; younger; youngest

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
今年	ことし kotoshi	this year
年間	ねんかん nenkan	(period of) a year
少年	しょうねん shounen	boy
年齢	ねんれい nenrei	age; years
年度	ねんど nendo	fiscal year (usu. April 1 to March 31 in Japan); financial year
年代	ねんだい nendai	age; era; period
以下	いか ika	not exceeding ...; not more than ...; ... and under
地下	ちか chika	underground; below the ground

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.