How to say "prairie" in Japanese

• 野原のはらCommon
  nounCovers the everyday sense of an open, grassy stretch of land. Use it for fields and open ground you might walk or play on, rather than for vast geographic regions.
  野原のはらは雪ゆきで覆おおわれています。↗

  The field is covered with snow.
• 平原へいげんCommon
  nounA flat, level plain; the geographic sense of 'prairie' as a vast, level landform. Typical of descriptions of scenery and terrain, where the emphasis is on breadth and flatness.
  初秋しょしゅうの頃ころのほど、その平原へいげんが美うつくしく見みえるときはない。↗

  At no time does the plain look so perfect as in early autumn.
• 原はらJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounOn its own a marginal way to say 'prairie'; you will mostly meet it inside place names and longer words. For standalone use, 野原 or 草原 is the practical choice.
  私達わたしたちがよく野球やきゅうをして遊あそんだ原はらは今いますっかり家いえが建て込たてこんでしまった。↗

  The field where we used to play ball is now all built up.
• 荒野こうやCommon
  nounReally means wasteland or wilderness: bleak, deserted open country. It fits 'prairie' only when the image is a desolate, untamed expanse; for ordinary grassy plains it is not the word you want.
  新あらたな入植者にゅうしょくしゃ達たちがその広大こうだいな荒野あらのを開拓かいたくした。↗

  The newcomers cultivated the immense wilderness.
• 草原そうげんCommon
  nounLand covered in grass; the natural choice for 'prairie' in its grassland sense, and it extends to savannah and steppe. Typical contexts include describing wide grassy scenery and the world's great grasslands.

Use 草原 for grass-covered plains, 平原 for flat, level plains, 野原 for everyday open fields, 荒野 only for bleak, deserted wilderness, and 原 chiefly within place names and compounds.

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

• 野原のはらfield
• 平原へいげんplain
• 原はらfield
• 荒野こうやwasteland
• プレーリーprairie
• 大草原だいそうげんgreat plain
• 草原そうげんgrass-covered plain