工夫

くふう

device, artifice, ingenuity

Also:device, dedication to spiritual improvement (esp. through Zen meditation)

What does 工夫 mean?

工夫 is a Japanese noun meaning device, artifice, ingenuity in English. It can also be translated as device, dedication to spiritual improvement (esp. through Zen meditation) depending on context. It is written as 工夫 in kanji, くふう in hiragana, and kufuu in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N2 vocabulary.

Example sentence

これは私が工夫した計画です。

This is a plan of my own devising.