How to say "playwright" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 作者さくしゃnounThe broad word for the creator of a work: author, writer, artist. Use it when you simply mean the person who wrote the play — 'the play's author' — with no emphasis on playwriting itself.
- 劇作家げきさっかnounThe direct word for 'playwright': a dramatist, a writer of plays. Use it when the person is being talked about as a writer of drama, as in theater news or profiles.
- 脚本家きゃくほんかnounReally 'scriptwriter' or 'scenario writer': the person who writes the script. It can render 'playwright' when the emphasis is on the script itself, but for a writer of plays 劇作家 is the closer word.
Choose 劇作家 when you mean a writer of plays; 脚本家 frames the person as a scriptwriter; 作者 is the general word for the creator of a work and covers the author of a play only broadly.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
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