How to say "career" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- nounThe direct word for the professional sense of 'career' — the work a person does over the years and the experience they build up, as in talking about a career in a field.
- 生涯しょうがいnounA person's entire life, from beginning to end; its 'career' sense is that whole-lifetime meaning, so it fits talk of a life's course rather than a professional career.
- 履歴りれきnounOne's personal history as a record of past positions and experience; it overlaps with 経歴, and its 'career' sense is that factual track record rather than a career path.
- 経歴けいれきnounCovers 'career' as the course of a person's work and study — what they have done and where — the natural choice when describing someone's background or setting out their history.
- 来歴らいれきnounReally the history of a thing — where it came from and how it came about; as a rendering of 'career' it is marginal, seldom the word for a person's work history.
Use 「キャリア」 for a professional career, 経歴 or 履歴 for someone's record of work and experience, 生涯 for a whole lifetime rather than a job history, and 来歴 mainly for the history of a thing.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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