How to say "incarceration" in Japanese

• 監禁かんきんCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbThe general word for confining someone against their will in an enclosed space; not tied to prisons, it also covers unlawful confinement, as when a victim is held captive.
  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!
• 幽閉ゆうへいCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbSuggests shutting a person away in seclusion, cut off from the outside world; it suits contexts where someone is confined in a secluded place, as in historical or literary accounts.
• 投獄とうごくCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbCovers incarceration in the strict sense of being put in prison: it denotes the act of jailing someone, and is typical of news reports about offenders being sent to prison.
  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.
• 禁錮きんこCommon
  noun, suru verbA legal term for one specific type of prison sentence, imprisonment without forced labour; it is really the name of that penalty, not a general word for incarceration.
  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.
• 入所にゅうしょCommon
  noun, suru verb, intransitive verbAn administrative term for being admitted into an institution such as a prison; it denotes entry into a facility rather than the act of jailing, and it also covers internment.

For incarceration as general confinement use 監禁, as being shut away in seclusion 幽閉, as the act of jailing 投獄, as the legal penalty 禁錮, and as admission to an institution 入所.

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

• 監禁かんきんconfinement
• 幽閉ゆうへいconfinement
• 投獄とうごくimprisonment
• 禁錮きんこimprisonment (without forced labour)
• 嵌頓かんとんincarceration (e.g. of a hernia)
• 禁獄きんごくimprisonment
• 入所にゅうしょimprisonment