There are multiple ways for saying king in Japanese. The most common words are ou, ousama and kingu (English loanword).
Ou is the most basic word for king and can also mean ‘sovereign’ or ‘monarch’. Ousama has the exact same meaning as ou, with the only difference being the o polite prefix, so it’s basically a far more respectful way for saying king.
If you’re into anime or manga, then you would’ve come across the English loanword kingu. Kingu is never used in regular Japanese conversations though, as it’s only most commonly used in anime/manga.
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| Romanji | Kanji | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| King おう | Ou | 王 | |
| King おうさま | Ousama | 王様 | |
| Prince おうじ | Ōji | 王子 | |
| Royal family ふじさん | Ōshitsu | 王室 | |
| Crown おうかん | Ōkan | 王冠 | |
| King of England イングランドおう | Ingurando-ō | イングランド王 | |
| King of France フランスおう | Furansu-ō | フランス王 |
Interesting facts about kings
Japan does not have kings. Instead, they have emperors. Interestingly, the rank of emperors surpasses those of kings and thus emperors have a higher monarchic honor.
The reason being that an empire has multiple kingdoms within it and each kingdom has its own king, while an emperor rules over the entire empire, including the kingdoms contained within it.