How to say "resource" in Japanese

• 素材そざいJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounCovers the material sense of 'resource': a raw material, ingredient, or source material used to make or build something. This is the word you want when translating resources as tangible or usable materials.
  この素材そざいは決けっしてすり減へったりしない。↗

  This material never wears out.
• 仕様しようJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounListed as 'way, method, means, resource'; its core sense is a way or method of doing something. As a rendering of 'resource' it is marginal — think of it as meaning 'method', not a stock of resources.
• 仕方しかたJLPT N4approx.Common
  nounCovers 'resource' only in the sense of a means or resort — having no other resource, i.e. no other way. In most contexts it simply means 'way' or 'method', as in 仕方がない, 'it cannot be helped'.
  あなたはチェスの仕方しかたを知しっていますか。↗

  Do you know how to play chess?
• 致し方いたしかたCommon
  nounThe formal or literary counterpart of 仕方, again matching 'resource' only through the 'means, resort' sense. For everyday use 仕方 is the natural choice; reach for this word only in formal or literary writing.

Use 素材 for resource in the sense of raw material or source material, and 仕方 (formally 「致し方」, also 仕様) for the 'means or resort' sense, as in having no other resource.

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

• 素材そざいingredient
• 仕様しようway
• 仕方しかたway
• 致し方いたしかたway
• リソースresource
• 詮方せんかたway
• サービスservice