How to say "archives" in Japanese

• 公文こうぶんCommon
  nounOfficial documents; essentially a compact synonym of 公文書. As 'archives' it refers to official records, so choose it when the documents in question are governmental rather than historical.
• 公文書こうぶんしょCommon
  nounOfficial documents created and received by government offices and public bodies; this is the natural choice when 'archives' means official records held by a public institution.
• 古文書こもんじょCommon
  nounHistorical documents and old manuscripts; the word for 'archives' in the sense of records from the past that historians study, rather than a government's current paperwork.
  彼女かのじょは物置ものおきの中なかで偶然ぐうぜんいくつかの古文書こもんじょを見みつけた。↗

  She came across some old documents in the closet.
• 文書ぶんしょJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounSimply 'documents' or 'papers' in general; it does not by itself carry the sense of an archive or a collection of records, so it is seldom the word you want for 'archives'.
  この文書ぶんしょはあなたのお目めにだけ留とめていただきたい。↗

  This document is for your eyes only.
• 史料しりょうCommon
  nounHistorical materials, records, and sources; use it when 'archives' means the records and materials from which history is studied, rather than official paperwork as such.

Use 公文書 for official government documents, 公文 as a compact variant for the same, 古文書 for old documents and manuscripts, 史料 for historical source materials, and 文書 only for documents in general.

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

• 公文こうぶんofficial document
• 公文書こうぶんしょofficial document
• 古文書こもんじょhistorical document
• 文書ぶんしょdocument
• 史料しりょうhistorical materials
• 史料館しりょうかんarchives (building)
• アーカイブスarchives
• 文書館もんじょかんarchive
• 公文書館こうぶんしょかんpublic records office