King and Queen – Titles of Power in Japanese

Have you ever wondered how to write queen or king in Japanese? How do you say princess in the Japanese language? Or how about president, mayor, noble, governor, and others? In this article, we will explore some titles of power in the Japanese language.

How do you say King in Japanese?

There are various ways to say King and Queen in Japanese, the main ideogram used is [王] which literally means King. The ideogram also conveys the idea of sovereign, monarch, magnate, champion, and master.

This ideogram [王] can be understood as “mediator between Heaven and Earth,” where the upper horizontal stroke symbolizes heaven and the lower stroke symbolizes earth. Its reading is a “ō” elongated that I like to romanize as “ou” [おう] and another obsolete kimi [君].

Generally, the ideogram for king [王] is accompanied by an honorific treatment such as ousama [王様] or with some type of suffix that identifies the type of king, as in the case of kokuou [国王] which literally means king of a country.

In the anime One Piece, we often see the word kaizokuou [海賊王] which literally means King of the Pirates. Below we will see some words related to the ideogram of king [王] that can also indicate a person of power or king of a certain thing:

• Ookimi [大君] – Emperor; King; Prince;
• Oujo [王女] – Princess;
• Ouji [王子] – Prince;
• Oushitsu [王室] – Royal Family;
• Oute [王手] – In Chess check;
• Ouhi [王妃] – Queen consort;
• Oukoku [王国] – Kingdom; Monarchy;
• Oujya [王者] – King; Monarch; Ruler; Champion;
• Ouchou [王朝] – Dynasty;
• Shukun [主君] – Lord; Master;
• Kunshu [君主] – Monarch; sovereign;

There are many other words related to royalty or power that use the ideogram [王], but we cannot be limited to just that. If you want to delve deeper into these words, just use the online dictionary jisho.

How do you say Queen in Japanese?

Queen in Japanese can be Joou [女王] or also ouhi [王妃], but in the latter case, it refers to a “Queen consort” or wife of the king, which means she holds the same position and designation as her husband, but she does not have the same political or military powers.

We have other words such as sasaki [后] which means Empress and Queen. For Japanese queens and empresses, we have the term kougou [皇后], while we have the general term kouhi [皇妃] for royalty regardless of their nationality.

See below for other words involving queens and empresses:

• Oujoubachi [女王蜂] – Queen bee;
• Oujouari [女王蟻] – Queen ant;
• Jokou [女皇] – Empress; queen;
• Koutaigou [皇太后] – Queen Mother; Empress dowager;
• Seioubo [西王母] – Queen Mother of the West (an ancient Chinese goddess);
• Kuiin [クイーン] – Queen from the English Queen;
• Kokubo [国母] – Empress; Empress dowager;
• Jotei [女帝] – Empress;
• Enpuresu [エンプレス] – Empress;

How do you say prince and princess in Japanese?

There are different ways to say prince or princess in Japanese, with the most common for princess being oujo [王女] and the most common for prince being ouji [王子]. One should not forget to always use the honorifics sama [様] such as oujosama [王女様].

In the West, it is common to hear the expression hime [姫] to refer to a princess or lady. Although it is a very common word, it is not often used to directly refer to princesses who are daughters of kings. Don’t forget the formal himesama [姫様].

Generally, hime is used as a generic term to refer to daughters of nobles, for this reason, it should not always be interpreted as literally meaning princess. The word hime can also be used as a prefix for cute and small things.

Anime fans in the West tend to translate the word otome as princess, although there is some truth to it in the past, the word is generally used to refer to young girls, maidens, and virgins aged between 17 and 20 years.

List of words related to princess and prince:

• Hidenka [妃殿下] – Princess; your royal highness;
• Purinsesu [プリンセス] – From the English princess;
• Ohimesama [お姫様] – Princess; Spoiled girl;
• Himemiko [姫御子] – Imperial Princess;
• Himemiya [姫宮] – Princess;
• Koushu [公主] – Princess, Disney type;
• Koujo [公女] – young noble; Princess;
• Otohime [乙姫] – Youngest princess;
• Koushaku [公爵] – Prince; Duke;
• Purinsu [プリンス] – Prince;
• Miyasama [宮様] – Prince; Princess;
• Shinnou [親王] – Imperial Prince; Prince of royal blood;
• Outei [王弟] – Royal prince; younger brother of the crown prince;
• Ouji [皇子] – Imperial Prince;
• Kou [公] – Suffix for prince, duke, lord, or government person;

Other titles of power in Japanese

To conclude the article, we will share a list of titles of power in Japanese below:

• Jinkun [人君] – Sovereign;
• Heika [陛下] – Your Majesty; Majesty;
• Denka [殿下] – Your highness; highness;
• Geika [猊下] – Your Highness; Your Grace; Your Eminence;
• Genshu [元首] – Head of state; Governor;
• Mikoto [尊] – Lord; Highness;
• Tennouheika [天皇陛下] Your Majesty the Emperor;
• Shugensha [主権者] – Sovereign; Ruler;
• Okami [御上] – Honorific of majesty, emperor, lord, and other authorities;
• Kimi [君] – Also used to refer to kings and monarchs;
• Meikun [名君] – Wise ruler; enlightened monarch; benevolent lord;
• Seiou [聖王] – Virtuous ruler; worthy monarch;
• Sangen [尊厳] – Majesty; holiness;
• Shihaisha [支配者] – Ruler; Leader; Governor;