Sanku Three Gaps Pattern: How to Spot a Tiring Trend Before It Turns
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By Spencer Li, CFTe · Last updated: 26 October 2026
Sanku, also called the Three Gaps pattern, is a Japanese candlestick pattern made of three price gaps in the direction of an existing trend, and it warns that the trend may be running out of fuel. In an uptrend it is called the Rising Three Gaps, and in a downtrend the Falling Three Gaps. The gaps do not need to come back to back, so they can be spread several candles apart. A reversal only becomes likely when price fills the third gap by moving the other way. Until then the pattern is a reason to protect your profit, and a poor reason to bet against the trend.
What is the Sanku pattern?
Japanese chart readers have a better name for a gap than we do. They call it a window, and as Steve Nison explains in Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, they treat a single window as a continuation sign. “A gap higher is bullish and a gap lower is bearish.”
So it is a little odd that three of them in a row are read as a warning. The logic is that one window shows buyers in a hurry, while three show a crowd that has stopped caring about price at all.
A gap is the empty space between one candle and the next, where no trades happened. In the Rising Three Gaps, price gaps up, rises for a candle or a few, gaps up again, rises some more, and then gaps up a third time. The Falling Three Gaps is the mirror image, with three gaps lower separated by falling candles. In a fast market, each of those rising or falling stretches can be several smaller candles rather than one.
Where does the Sanku pattern come from?
Munehisa Homma was born in 1724 into a wealthy family, and Nison credits him with the trading rules that became known as Sakata’s Rules. Homma died in 1803, so these rules are more than two centuries old.
Sakata’s Method grew out of them, and it has a great deal to say about the number three. Nison notes that Japanese tradition holds three in high regard, while four is considered unlucky because it sounds like the word for death. Gregory Morris, in Candlestick Charting Explained, describes the method as “using three lines to forecast the turning point of the market.”
On Sanku itself the old rule is blunt. Morris writes that “on the third gap, Sakata’s Method recommends selling because of the conflict of orders and the possibility of reaching” an extreme. A sister rule from the same tradition says that “after eight new price highs are set, one should take profits, or at least protect positions.”
Both rules say the same thing in different units. A trend that has run too far too fast tends to need a rest, and the old traders counted gaps or new highs to tell them when that point was getting close.
Why would three gaps mean the end of a trend?
Think about what a gap up actually is. Buyers were so keen that they would not wait for an orderly price, so they jumped the queue and paid up at the open. Once is enthusiasm, and twice is a strong trend. By the third time you are looking at a crowd running, and a running crowd eventually runs out of people.
As the pool of fresh buyers thins out, the early buyers start selling to lock in their profit. That handover, from people chasing price to people cashing out, is where a reversal can begin. If the last burst comes on very high volume and the decline that follows is long, the top may turn out to be a climax top, the loud and exhausting end of a big run.
Western gap theory has a name for that final gap. Alan Farley, in The Master Swing Trader, says “exhaustion gaps fill easily and warn that the trend is over.” Al Brooks makes the same point about gaps at the end of a long trend, and he calls guessing whether a breakout gap will succeed or fail “the single most important decision that traders make.” He then adds, “The labels aren’t important, but the implications are.”
So the third gap in a Sanku is a candidate for exhaustion. The pattern tells you to start paying attention, and the price action afterwards tells you whether it was right.
If you would rather check for patterns like this once a day than watch them form tick by tick, my free 15-minute swing trader checklist is the routine I use myself.
When is a Sanku reversal confirmed?
A reversal becomes likely when price fills the third gap by moving the opposite way. In an uptrend that means price falling back down through the whole of the third gap. In a downtrend, it means price climbing back up through it. Until that happens, the trend is still in charge.
Nison gives the reason it works. Windows act as support and resistance, and “corrections go back to the window.” If the window then closes and selling carries on, “the end of the uptrend would be flagged.” A pullback that tests the gap and holds is normal. A pullback that closes the gap and keeps going is the one that counts.
An open gap does the same job in reverse, as a ceiling. In my weekly outlook on 17 December 2025, I was looking at QQQ, the fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100. It had gapped down at the start of November and never closed that gap. It tested the gap twice, on 8 and 10 December, and failed both times to close above it. “I would say this is kind of like the danger point,” I told viewers. A gap the market keeps failing to fill tells you the sellers who made it are still around.
I said something similar about South Korean stocks on 5 March 2026. They had found support after a large gap down, but I felt going long was still a bit risky “as long as there is this open gap here.” Gaps that stay open keep their power. Gaps that get filled lose it, and that is the whole idea behind Sanku’s confirmation rule.
How do you trade the Sanku pattern?
Picture yourself already long a stock that has just printed its third gap up. What should you do with it?
The first use of Sanku is defensive. Trail your stop behind the recent candle lows, or behind the low of the most recent gap. If price drops below that most recent gap, the trend may be turning. Whether that turns out to be a small pullback or a long-term top depends on the size of the moves and on the wider market, and you will usually only know which one a few weeks later. A trailing stop loss lets you stay in the trend if it keeps running and still keep most of the gain if it does not.
Some traders go further and short the reversal once it starts, with a stop above the most recent candle or above the high of the whole pattern. That is the more aggressive trade, and it leans much harder on context. If the exhaustion gap is followed by a gap the other way that stays open, the candles in between are stranded, and you have an island reversal pattern, which is a stronger version of the same signal.
An old Japanese market saying fits here, and Morris quotes it. “Buy, sell, and rest.” A third gap is often a good time for the third one.
If you want a daily routine that keeps the question of where your stop sits in front of you, the free 15-minute swing trader checklist is the one I follow.
Do all gaps get filled?
On 11 March 2025, a trader on Reddit’s r/Daytrading asked it in five words. “Do all gaps get filled?”
The honest answer is no, and that matters a lot for Sanku. Farley puts it bluntly. “The old traders’ wisdom is a lie. Exhaustion gaps get filled. Breakaway and continuation gaps may never fill.”
I have to concede that this weakens the pattern more than most guides admit. Sanku’s confirmation rule only works when the third gap turns out to be an exhaustion gap, and as Farley wrote back in 2000, a breakaway or continuation gap may never be filled at all. You cannot tell which kind you are looking at when it prints. Strong trends often keep gapping long after three, and a trader who sells on every third gap will leave a lot of trend on the table.
That is why the pattern works better as a reason to tighten your stop than as a reason to sell. The stop lets the market decide which kind of gap it was.
Sanku vs Three White Soldiers
These two get mixed up because both involve three moves in one direction, but they show up at opposite ends of a trend.
| Sanku, or Three Gaps | Three White Soldiers | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Three gaps inside an existing trend | Three long up candles in a row |
| Where it appears | Late in a trend, up or down | After a decline |
| What it suggests | The trend may be tiring | A new uptrend may be starting |
| What to look at | The gaps between the candles | The candles themselves |
In short, Three White Soldiers says a move may be starting, while Sanku says a move may be ending. Both come out of Sakata’s Method, where Morris files the Three White Soldiers among the san-pei patterns, which is part of why the names blur together.
A single gap that holds is a different animal again. The upside tasuki gap is a continuation pattern built around one window that the market tests and fails to close.
What are the limits of the Sanku pattern?
Imagine running a scanner for three gaps up across every stock in the market. You would get a long list, and most of it would be noise.
Judging which three-gap patterns matter is subjective. Small gaps happen all the time, and the bigger the gaps and the moves between them, the more weight the pattern deserves. The same pattern can lead to a minor pullback on one chart and a full reversal on another, so the wider market outlook is part of the read. And Sanku gives you no profit target, which means you need a separate exit method, such as a trailing stop or the next support and resistance level.
None of that makes the pattern useless. It makes it one input among several, which is how most candlestick patterns are best used anyway.
FAQ
What is the Sanku pattern?
A Japanese candlestick pattern made of three gaps in the direction of an existing trend. Three gaps up form the Rising Three Gaps, and three gaps down form the Falling Three Gaps. It warns that the trend may be close to exhaustion.
Is the Sanku pattern bullish or bearish?
It depends on the trend. The Rising Three Gaps warns of a possible top, so it carries bearish risk. The Falling Three Gaps warns of a possible bottom, so it carries bullish risk.
When is a Sanku reversal confirmed?
When price fills the third gap by moving the opposite way. In an uptrend, that means falling back through the whole third gap. Until then, the trend is still in control.
Do the three gaps have to be consecutive?
No. The gaps can be spread several candles apart, as long as all three point in the direction of the trend.
What is the difference between Sanku and Three White Soldiers?
Sanku shows up late in a trend and warns that it may be ending. Three White Soldiers is three long up candles after a decline, and it suggests a new uptrend may be starting.
Does the Sanku pattern give a profit target?
No. You need a separate exit, such as a trailing stop behind recent candle or gap lows, or the next support and resistance level.
When you see a third gap in a trend you are riding, do you tighten your stop, take profit, or leave it alone? Let me know in the comments.
For every other candlestick pattern and how they fit together, read The Definitive Guide to Japanese Candlestick Patterns, and the rest of what I have written is in my free trading guides.
And if you want a trading routine that fits into 15 minutes a day, grab the free 15-minute swing trader checklist.
About the author. Spencer Li is The 15-Minute Trader and the founder of Synapse Trading. He is a Certified Financial Technician (CFTe) with 15+ years of trading, run from 70+ countries. He holds a B.Acc and B.BM from SMU. Every trade he takes is public, dated, losses left in. He teaches rules-based swing trading in 15 minutes a day, one system for any market.
Education, not financial advice. Synapse Trading is not licensed by MAS to advise on investment products. Trading carries risk of loss, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Educational content only, not personalised financial advice. Trading carries risk, including loss of capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Synapse Trading is not licensed or regulated by MAS.
