How to say "passenger" in Japanese

• 乗客じょうきゃくJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounThe usual word for a passenger: someone riding a bus, train, ship, or aircraft. Neutral and everyday; when you simply mean 'a passenger' in an ordinary sentence, this is the word to reach for.
  乗客じょうきゃくはどちらの側がわにも４人にんすわっていた。↗

  The passengers sat four aside.
• 旅客りょかくJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounAlso means passenger, but with a formal, administrative flavor. You encounter it in railway and airline contexts such as announcements and signage; in everyday conversation 乗客 is the natural choice.
  覆面ふくめんをした男おとこ達たちが旅客りょかくを襲おそって金きんを奪うばった。↗

  Masked men held up the passengers and robbed them of their money.
• 客きゃくJLPT N4approx.Common
  nounIts core senses are customer, client, shopper, and spectator, and matching 'passenger' through these glosses is marginal. For a person being transported, use 乗客 instead; 客 is really about patrons or guests.
  春先はるさきだから客きゃくもあまりいませんでした。↗

  It was early spring, so there weren't many customers.
• お客様おきゃくさまCommon
  nounThe honorific form for customer, client, or guest, used by shops and businesses when addressing or referring to those they serve. It is not the ordinary way to say 'passenger'; that sense is only indirect through its customer meanings.
  お客様きゃくさまのサイズは切きらしてしまっているようですが。↗

  I think we're out of your size.

Use 乗客 for someone riding a vehicle, 旅客 for travelers in formal contexts such as airlines and railways, and 客 or 「お客様」 mainly for customers and guests rather than passengers.

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

• 乗客じょうきゃくpassenger
• 旅客りょかくpassenger
• パッセンジャーpassenger
• 乗り手のりてpassenger
• 船客せんきゃくpassenger
• 渡航者とこうしゃpassenger
• 搭乗者とうじょうしゃpassenger (on a ship or aircraft)
• 船人ふなびとsailor
• 乗船者じょうせんしゃ(ship) passenger
• 客きゃくcustomer
• お客様おきゃくさまcustomer
• お客さんおきゃくさんcustomer