How to say "race" in Japanese

• レースJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounThe loanword for a race as a contest of speed, such as a running, horse, or car race; this is the word for sporting and competitive races, not for races of people.
  あのレースは八百長やおちょうだった。↗

  The race was fixed.
• 族ぞくCommon
  noun (suffix)Glossed as tribe, race, people, and family, but on its own it is seldom the word you want for 'race'; it really serves as a suffix in compound words for groups, clans, and families.
  ６世紀せいきにアングロ・サクソン族ぞくはローマ文字もじを採用さいようした。↗

  In the 6th century, the Anglo-Saxons adopted Roman characters.
• 種族しゅぞくCommon
  nounRace or ethnic group viewed as a distinct kind of people, classified by ancestry and physical type; also the natural word for the different races in fiction and games.
  その島しまには未開みかい種族しゅぞくがいる。↗

  There are still some savage tribes on that island.
• 人種じんしゅJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounRace of people: the word you want for divisions of humankind by inherited physical traits such as skin color, and for speaking of racial discrimination and prejudice.
  あなたの人種じんしゅ、年齢ねんれい、宗教しゅうきょうは問といません。↗

  I don't care about your race, age, or religion.
• 民族みんぞくJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounAn ethnic group or people: a community bound by shared language, culture, and ancestry. Choose this over 人種 when the emphasis falls on cultural and ethnic identity rather than physical classification.
  アジアにはたくさんの民族みんぞくがいる。↗

  There are many people in Asia.

Use 「レース」 for a contest of speed; among words for human groups, 人種 stresses inherited physical traits, 民族 shared culture and ancestry, 種族 a people as a distinct kind, and 族 is mainly a suffix.

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

• レースrace
• 族ぞくtribe
• 種族しゅぞくrace
• 人種じんしゅrace (of people)
• 民族みんぞくpeople
• 駆けるかけるto run
• 競走きょうそうrace
• 競争きょうそうcompetition
• 突っ走るつっぱしるto run swiftly
• 走そうrun
• 駆け比べかけくらべrace
• かけっこ(foot) race
• 走るはしるto rush (to)
• ふかすto rev (an engine)
• よういドンrace
• ダービーbattle (for first place)