How to say "industry" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 産業さんぎょうnounIndustry as an economic sector: productive and commercial activity viewed collectively, or a branch of it. The word to reach for when 'industry' refers to the economy's industrial side, not a single company or project.
- 業界ぎょうかいnounThe industry as a social sphere: the world or circles of the people and firms in a given trade. Use it for insiders, competition, or conditions within a field — the sense of English 'the industry'.
- 実業じつぎょうnounCovers 'industry; business' in the sense of practical, wealth-producing enterprise, but it is seldom the word you want for plain 'industry'; for the economic sector use 産業, and for the trade world use 業界.
- 事業じぎょうnounA business, enterprise, or venture: a specific undertaking or operation rather than industry as a whole. For the sector sense of 'industry' this is not the word; its real home is 'business' and 'enterprise'.
- nounThe loanword 'industry'. It turns up mainly in specialized business jargon and is seldom the word you want; for industry as an economic sector, use 産業.
Choose 産業 for industry as an economic sector, 業界 for the business world or insiders of a particular trade, and 事業 for a specific enterprise or venture, while 実業 and 「インダストリー」 are only marginal ways to render plain 'industry'.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
This browser can't play pronunciations (needs Safari 18.4 or later, or Chrome / Edge / Firefox).
