王 ō King

王 is a king, the ruler of a country. It is also the one who stands above all others in a field, as in 百獣の王 (hyakujū no ō), the king of beasts. In shogi, 王 is the king piece.

王者 is a king, one who rules. It is also the strongest in a field, a champion, as in 王者の貫禄 (ōja no kanroku), the presence of a champion. In Confucian thought it is the ruler who governs by virtue, as against 覇者 (hasha), who rules by might.

The Japanese word 王者 meaning "King" is composed of the kanji 王 (read ō) meaning "king; rule; magnate" and 者 (read sha) meaning "someone; person". Together they are read ōja, because the sounds change where the characters meet: 者 sha becomes ja after 王.

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

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