How to say "drought" in Japanese

• 日照りひでりCommon
  nounThe common word for a spell of dry, rainless weather, and hence for a drought; when you need to say 'drought' or 'dry spell', this is usually the word to reach for.
  日照ひでり続つづきでその池いけは干上ひあがった。↗

  The pond dried up in hot weather.
• 旱魃かんばつ
  nounDrought in the full sense: a long spell of dry weather severe enough to count as a drought. Less common than 日照り; choose it when you mean drought as an event, not just dry weather.
  すぐにでもエチオピアに雨あめが降ふらなければ、深刻しんこくな干かんばつの問題もんだいが起おこるだろう。↗

  Unless it rains in Ethiopia soon, there could be severe drought problems.
• 水枯れみずがれ
  nounLess common; its image is of the water itself drying up rather than of rainless weather. Seldom the word you want for an ordinary drought — reach for 日照り or 旱魃 instead.
• 干天かんてん
  nounA dry spell viewed as a state of the weather — dry, rainless skies — rather than as a shortage of water. Less common than 日照り, and rarely the first word to reach for.
  農夫のうふたちは干天かんてんのため冬作ふゆさくの穀物こくもつは不作ふさくだろうとなげいた。↗

  The farmers complained that because of the dry weather there would be a poor harvest of winter grain.
• 水飢饉みずききん
  nounLiterally a 'water famine': it presents drought as a severe shortage of water rather than as a spell of dry weather. Less common, and not the usual word for an ordinary dry spell.

Use 「日照り」 for a dry spell and 旱魃 for drought as a serious prolonged event; the other three are less common: 「水枯れ」 pictures water drying up, 干天 names dry weather itself, and 水飢饉 frames drought as a water famine.

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

• 日照りひでりdry weather
• 旱魃かんばつdrought
• 水枯れみずがれdrought
• 干天かんてんdrought
• 水飢饉みずききんdrought
• 無降水むこうすいlack of rainfall
• 氷河期ひょうがきtough period