Japanese Occupations and Jobs
Words and Vocabulary

This section covers the words and vocabulary related to Japanese occupations and jobs.

Japanese Occupations Vocabulary

Because of the prolonged bad economy in Japan, regular full-time employees 正社員 (seishain) in many Japanese firms have been replaced by contract temporary workers, 派遣社員 (hakenshain).

The job market in Japan has been greatly affected by the prolonged bad economy and many firms have chosen to downsize the company.

Most of the firms hire temporary workers to help in the daily works.

This has caused the full-time employees to be afraid that their jobs will be taken over by the temporary workers and become the next victim of company downsizing, リストラされた (risutorasareta).

Among the Japanese occupations there are some special names created by the Japanese which can be found only in Japan, such as サラリーマン (Salary man) and オーエル (OL - Office lady).

These unique names of Japanese occupations were created using 和製英語 (wasei eigo), which are Japanese words constructed of elements from one or more English terms.

There are many different Japanese occupations but I will only list the most common ones and related terms.

Kanji Hiragana or
Katakana		 Romaji Meaning
1. 職業 しょくぎょう shoku gyou Occupation
2. 医者 いしゃ isha Doctor
3. 看護婦 かんごふ kango fu Female Nurse
4. 看護師 かんごし kango shi Nurse
5. 歯科医 しかい shikai Dentist
6. 科学者 かがくしゃ kagaku sha Scientist
7. 美容師 びようし biyou shi Hairdresser / Beauty Artist
8. 教師 きょうし kyoushi Teacher
9. 先生 せんせい sensei Teacher
10. 歌手 かしゅ kashu Singer
11. 運転手 うんてんしゅ unten shu Driver / Chauffeur
12. 野球選手 やきゅうせんしゅ yakyuu senshu Baseball Player
13. サッカー選手 サッカーせんしゅ sakka- senshu Soccer Player
14. 画家 がか gaka Painter / Artist
15. 芸術家 げいじゅつか geijutsu ka Artist
16. 写真家 しゃしんか shashin ka Photographer
17. 作家 さっか sakka Author / Writer
18. 演説家 えんぜつか enzetsu ka Speaker / Orator
19. 演奏家 えんそうか ensou ka Performing Musician
20. 演出家 えんしゅつか enshutsu ka Producer / Director
21. 建築家 けんちくか kenchiku ka Architect
22. 政治家 せいじか seiji ka Politician
23. 警官 けいかん kei kan Policeman
24. 警察官 けいさつかん keisatsu kan Policeman
25. お巡りさん おまわりさん omawari san Policeman (Friendly term)
26. コック kokku Cook
27. シェフ shefu Chef
28. 調理師 ちょうりし chouri shi Cook / Chef
29. 料理人 りょうりにん ryouri nin Cook / Chef
30. 料理長 りょうりちょう ryouri chou Head Chef / Master Chef
31. 裁判官 さいばんかん saiban kan Judge
32. 弁護士 べんごし bengo shi Lawyer / Attorney
33. 会計士 かいけいし kaikei shi Accountant
34. 消防士 しょうぼうし shoubou shi Firefighter / Fireman
35. 兵士 へいし hei shi Soldier
36. 銀行員 ぎんこういん ginkou in Bank Employee
37. 公務員 こうむいん koumu in Civil Servant / Government Worker
38. 駅員 えきいん eki in Station Worker / Station Attendant
39. 店員 てんいん ten in Shop Assistant
40. 会社員 かいしゃいん kaisha in Company Employee
41. 警備員 けいびいん keibi in Security Guard
42. 研究員 けんきゅういん kenkyuu in Researcher
43. 派遣社員 はけんしゃいん hakensha in Temporary Worker
44. 秘書 ひしょ hisho Secretary
45. サラリーマン sarari-man Salary man / Salaried Employee
46. フリーター furi-ta- Part-time Worker
47. OL オーエル o- eru Office Lady / Female Office Worker
48. 俳優 はいゆう haiyuu Actor / Performer
49. 女優 じょゆう joyuu Actress
50. 役者 やくしゃ yakusha Actor / Actress / Performer
51. 監督 かんとく kantoku Movie Director
52. 監督 かんとく kantoku Sport's Coach
53. 監督 かんとく kantoku Supervisor / Superintendent
54. 占い師 うらないし uranai shi Fortuneteller / Diviner
55. 牧師 ぼくし boku shi Pastor / Clergyman
56. 漁師 りょうし ryou shi Fisherman
57. 猟師 りょうし ryou shi Hunter
58. 理髪師 りはつし rihatsu shi Barber
59. 散髪屋 さんぱつや sanpatsuya Barber
60. 床屋 とこや tokoya Barber
61. 講師 こうし kou shi Lecturer
62. 技師 ぎし gi shi Engineer / Technologist
63. 教授 きょうじゅ kyouju Professor
64. エンジニア enjinia Engineer
65. 大工 だいく daiku Carpenter
66. 探偵 たんてい tantei Detective
67. スチュワーデス suchuwa-desu Stewardess / Female Flight Attendant
68. パイロット pairotto Pilot
69. 機長 きちょう kichou Pilot / Plane Captain
70. 添乗員 てんじょういん tenjouin Tour Conductor / Tour Guide
71. 不動産業者 ふどうさんぎょうしゃ fudousan gyousha Real Estate Agent
72. 記者 きしゃ kisha Reporter
73. ジャーナリスト ja-narisuto Journalist
74. 農民 のうみん noumin Farmer
75. 無職者 むしょくしゃ mushoku sha Unemployed Person
76. リストラ risutora Restructure / Corporate Downsizing
77. 過労死 かろうし karoushi Death from Overwork

The above is the common word list related to Japanese occupations and jobs. I will continue to add to the list when I have collected more words related to Japanese occupations and jobs.


And if you still want to learn more vocabulary related to jobs and also see some example sentences on how to use those words, make sure you check out this page on jobs and work.

By the way, this link above is an affiliate link, which means that I would earn a commission if you do end up purchasing the related learning course. It's at no extra cost to you, and please if you have any questions related to this learning course, please let me know and I would be happy to answer them for you.

 

 

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