How to say "adolescence" in Japanese

• 青春せいしゅんJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounCovers 'youth' and the figurative 'springtime of life': adolescence as one's vivid, treasured youthful years, not as a developmental stage. For puberty or maturation as a phase, 思春期 is the word.
  僕ぼくらは青春せいしゅんの真っ只中まっただなかだ。↗

  We are in the heyday of youth.
• 思春期ししゅんきCommon
  nounCovers adolescence as a developmental stage: the years around puberty when body and mind mature. Typical in medical, psychological or parenting contexts; unlike 青春, it names the stage itself, not the experience of youth.
  自分じぶんの思春期ししゅんきを振り返ふりかえると、いつも憂ゆううつな気分きぶんになる。↗

  I cannot look back on my adolescence without feeling depressed.

Choose 思春期 for adolescence as a developmental stage — puberty and maturation — and 青春 for those years felt as one's 'springtime of life', youth as an experience rather than a phase.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 青春せいしゅんyouth
• 思春期ししゅんきpuberty
• 青春期せいしゅんきadolescence
• アドレセンスadolescence
• 少年期しょうねんきadolescence
• 青年期せいねんきyouth
• 成熟期せいじゅくきperiod of maturity
• あおはるyouth
• 春はるadolescence