How to say "handcuffs" in Japanese

Choosing the right word
  • 手錠てじょうJLPT N1approx.Common
    nounThe common word for handcuffs: the linked metal rings that police lock around a prisoner's wrists. Also covering manacles, this is the word you want in virtually any handcuffs context.
    抗議こうぎすることもできないうちに、僕ぼくは手錠てじょうをかけられ、留置場りゅうちじょうに送おくられていた。↗
    Before I could protest, I was handcuffed and was on my way to prison.
  • 手枷てかせ
    nounA less common word for restraints fastened on the hands — hand shackles. For the handcuffs used in an arrest, 手錠 is the word you want; 手枷 is seldom the natural choice.
  • 枷かせ
    nounChiefly shackles, fetters or irons — chains binding a prisoner rather than wrist cuffs specifically. 'Handcuffs' is only a marginal sense, so this is seldom the word you want; reach for 手錠 instead.
    制度せいど的てきに大おおきな枷かせとなるのは、著作権ちょさくけんの問題もんだいである。↗
    Institutionally, a major restraint is the copyright problem.

For handcuffs in the ordinary sense — the metal restraint police lock around a suspect's wrists — use 手錠; 手枷 is a less common word for hand shackles, and 枷 chiefly means shackles or fetters rather than handcuffs.

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

Japanese equivalents

JLPT vocabulary levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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