How to say "imprisonment" in Japanese

• 監禁かんきんCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbCovers the act of confining a person — shutting someone in and holding them there. In practice it often describes unlawful captivity, such as keeping a person locked up, rather than a court-imposed prison sentence.
  こんな所ところに監禁かんきんされているのはもうごめんだ。↗

  I can't stand being cooped up in this prison!
• 留置りゅうちCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbChiefly detention or custody while under investigation, as when police hold a suspect; as 'imprisonment' it means being held in custody, not serving a sentence. It also has an unrelated sense of poundage.
• 投獄とうごくCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbDescribes the act of putting someone in prison or a person being sent there; the image is of being thrown into jail, and it is typical in reports of someone being imprisoned.
  その男おとこは殺人さつじんの疑うたがいで投獄とうごくされた。↗

  The man was imprisoned for murder.
• 収監しゅうかんCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbRefers to the act of taking someone into a prison — official admission into a penal institution — as when an offender is received into custody to serve a sentence.
• 禁錮きんこCommon
  noun, suru verbA legal term for one category of statutory punishment: imprisonment without forced labour, as distinct from a prison sentence that involves it; it appears in the wording of court sentences.
  判事はんじは彼かれに禁固きんこ１年ねんを宣告せんこくした。↗

  The judge sentenced him to one year's imprisonment.

For the act of confining someone, use 監禁; for custody during investigation, 留置; for being sent or thrown into prison, 投獄; for formal admission into a prison, 収監; and for the legal punishment of imprisonment without forced labour, 禁錮.

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

• 監禁かんきんconfinement
• 留置りゅうちdetention (usu. during investigation)
• 投獄とうごくimprisonment
• 収監しゅうかんimprisonment
• 禁錮きんこimprisonment (without forced labour)
• 幽閉ゆうへいconfinement
• 囚われとらわれcaptivity
• 徒ずimprisonment (for 1-3 years; third most severe of the five ritsuryō punishments)
• 囚しゅうimprisonment
• 入監にゅうかんimprisonment
• 入牢にゅうろうimprisonment
• 幽囚ゆうしゅうimprisonment
• 禁獄きんごくimprisonment
• 徒罪ずざいimprisonment (for 1-3 years; third most severe of the five ritsuryō punishments)
• 拘禁刑こうきんけいimprisonment
• 在監ざいかんimprisonment
• 自由刑じゆうけいfreedom-restricting punishment
• 懲役刑ちょうえきけいjail sentence
• 禁固刑きんこけい(penalty of) imprisonment
• 収容しゅうようimprisonment
• 入所にゅうしょimprisonment
• 苦役くえきpenal servitude