Kanji for “friendship”

The bond between friends; Japanese distinguishes the bond from the friend.

友情 yūjō

Closest natural translation · misunderstanding risk Low

Reading: yūjō — Common compound reading
About the reading: The ordinary word for the bond between friends.
Literal meaning: Friendship
What it suggests: The feeling between friends. Warm and unambiguous, used from schoolbooks to speeches.
When to use it: For friendship itself.
On its own: Natural as a complete noun.
In compounds: Natural as the complete word 友情.
As a tattoo: Clear and sincere; hard to misread.

友 tomo / yū

Related meaning, not a literal translation · misunderstanding risk Medium

Reading: tomo / yū — Common standalone reading
About the reading: A real noun, and a very common element in names.
Literal meaning: Friend
What it suggests: The friend, not the friendship. It names a person rather than a bond.
When to use it: When you mean a friend rather than the relationship.
On its own: Natural, though slightly literary on its own.
In compounds: Very natural in 友達 (friend) and 親友 (close friend).
As a tattoo: Clean and simple. Many readers will take it as a name such as Tomo.
Worth knowing: Means friend rather than friendship, and is a common name element.

朋友 hōyū

Symbolic choice, not a literal translation · misunderstanding risk Low

Reading: hōyū — Common compound reading; literary
About the reading: A classical compound, more at home in Chinese texts and formal Japanese writing.
Literal meaning: Companion, friend
What it suggests: Friendship in a classical register, with an old and slightly Confucian weight.
When to use it: For a deliberately classical impression.
On its own: Natural in writing; rare in speech.
In compounds: Natural as the complete word 朋友.
As a tattoo: Handsome and old-fashioned; Japanese readers may find it Chinese in flavour.

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