Investopedia A technical indicator that is used to gauge momentum along with future areas of support and resistance. The Ichimoku indicator is comprised of five lines called the tenkan-sen, kijun-sen, senkou span A, senkou span B and chickou span. This indicator was developed so that a trader can gauge an asset's trend, momentum and support and resistance points without the need of any other technical indicator. "Ichimoku" is a Japanese word that means "one look." This charting technique was created by a Japanese newspaper writer. It does look very complicated when a trader sees the indicator for the first time, but don't hesitate to give this indicator a try because the complexity quickly disappears once you gain an understanding of what the various lines mean and why they are used.