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Kanji for King
The kanji most commonly used for "King" is 王.
王
Kanji that mean King
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王
king
Also associated with to reign, honorific.
Onyomi: noh, oh 4 strokes Jōyō
王 (ō) is the king — three horizontal strokes joined by one vertical, which classical commentators read as heaven, earth and humanity united by the one who rules. It is among the oldest characters in the script, and it works hard: 王国 (kingdom), 女王 (queen), 王子 (prince), and figuratively any champion of a field — ホームラン王, the home-run king.
Two characters sit above it. 皇 is the emperor of Japan’s own line — 天皇 (tennō) — and appears in 皇室, the imperial family. 帝 (tei / mikado) is the emperor of classical and foreign empires: ローマ皇帝, the Roman emperor, uses both. So Japanese distinguishes what English flattens: 王 is a king among kings; 皇 and 帝 outrank him.
In shōgi the piece to protect is the 王将, the king general; in chess Japanese calls the king キング — but writes its own game’s with 王.
Words using King kanji
Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.
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国王
こくおう
king; queen; monarch
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女王
じょおう
queen; female champion
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王国
おうこく
kingdom; monarchy
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王子
おうじ
prince; subordinate Kumano shrine
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王座
おうざ
throne; first place; top spot
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王者
おうじゃ
king; monarch; ruler
Before you use King kanji
王 is bold, minimal and instantly legible — "king", with the champion nuance included. It has no negative senses. Choose 皇 or 帝 only if you specifically mean "emperor"; on their own they read imperial rather than regal, and 皇 alone strongly evokes Japan's throne.