How to say "resident" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 住民じゅうみんnounCovers residents or inhabitants of an area considered collectively, such as the population of a town or neighborhood. It treats them as a group, so it suits notices, statistics, and administrative contexts.
- 住人じゅうにんnounAlso a resident or dweller of a place, but tends to view them as individuals actually living there, as in the people of an apartment building or a particular house.
- 居住者きょじゅうしゃnounA resident in a formal or legal sense, as on official documents, in taxation, or in discussions of where someone legally lives. For everyday talk about people living somewhere, 住民 or 住人 is usually more natural.
- 居留民きょりゅうみんnounRefers to residents in the sense of foreigners residing in a country or settlement, as in a foreign community abroad. It is seldom the word you want for an ordinary resident, so choose one of the others unless that specific meaning is intended.
- 市民しみんnounMeans a citizen of a city, or townspeople, and by extension a resident of a city in civic contexts such as city government and public services. It is not the neutral word for residents of a building or small locality.
Use 住民 or 住人 for people living in a place, 居住者 for a formal or legal 'resident', 市民 for city residents or citizens, and avoid 居留民 except for residents of a foreign community abroad.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
- 住民じゅうみんinhabitant
- 住人じゅうにんdweller
- 居住者きょじゅうしゃresident
- 居留民きょりゅうみんresident
- 常在じょうざいresident
- レジデントresident (medical)
- 在住者ざいじゅうしゃresident
- 住まい手すまいてresident
- 市人しじんtownsfolk
- 入居者にゅうきょしゃtenant (esp. of an apartment)
- 研修医けんしゅういmedical intern
- 民みんcitizen
- 在留者ざいりゅうしゃ(foreign) resident
- 市民しみんcitizen (of a city)
- 常駐じょうちゅうresident (program, file, etc.)
- 収容者しゅうようしゃin-patient (hospital)
See also
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