How to say "despite" in Japanese

• のにCommon
  particleCovers 'even though', 'despite' and 'and yet': it links clauses where the second runs against the first, often with a shade of complaint or surprise — 'it was raining, and yet he went out'.
  小ちいさいおうちはみすぼらしく見みえるようになってしまいました・・・まだまだもとの通とおりしっかりとしているのに。↗

  The small house had come to look shabby, though it was just as good as ever underneath.
• かかわらずCommon
  expressionGlossed 'in spite of; despite', but standing alone it is seldom the word for 'despite': it is really the closing part of the longer concession にもかかわらず, and does not stand on its own.
  金持かねもちにかかわらず彼女かのじょは幸しあわせでない。↗

  Though she is rich, she is not happy.
• にもかかわらずJLPT N1approx.Common
  expressionThe full-phrase way to say 'in spite of' or 'despite': it concedes a whole fact — 'in spite of the rain, the match went ahead' — and sets the following statement squarely against it.
  それにも関かかわらず彼かれは試験しけんに合格ごうかくすることができた。↗

  And yet he could pass the exam.
• ところがJLPT N3approx.Common
  conjunctionReally a sentence-opening conjunction meaning 'even so' or 'however', marking an unexpected turn: for 'despite' itself it is seldom the word you want — use it where English would say 'even so'.
  ところが実じつはどうすることもできないのです。↗

  As it is, I can do nothing.
• ながらもCommon
  expressionCovers 'though', 'although' and 'in spite of' in a compact form: the concession and the main point sit in one sentence, as in 'though it is small, it works well'.
  女おんなながらも彼女かのじょは勇敢ゆうかんだった。↗

  Woman as she was, she was brave.

For 'despite', 「のに」 gives the 'even though ... and yet' contrast, 「にもかかわらず」 the full-phrase 'in spite of' concession, 「ながらも」 a compact 'though' within one sentence, while 「かかわらず」 and 「ところが」 are seldom the word for 'despite' itself.

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

• のにalthough
• かかわらずin spite of
• にもかかわらずin spite of
• ところがeven so
• ながらもthough
• ものかはdespite
• いえどもeven though
• というのにeven though
• つつもeven though
• といえどもeven though
• ところがどっこいeven so
• によらずregardless of
• つつeven though
• ながらwhile
• 押しておしてdespite
• にしてdespite
• かてalthough