How to say "route" in Japanese

• ルートCommon
  nounThe most direct equivalent for the everyday sense of 'route': a way from one place to another, as in a driving, hiking or delivery route. A safe default when no special nuance is needed.
  あなたがどのルートをとっても、そこに着つくのは間に合まにあうでしょう。↗

  Whichever route you take, you will get there in time.
• 路線ろせんCommon
  nounUse this for 'route' in the transport sense: a bus, train or air route as a scheduled service. It also means 'line' in the sense of a chosen course of action or policy.
  路線ろせん地図ちずをもらえますか。↗

  May I have a bus route map?
• コースJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounBest when 'route' means a set course to follow, as on a tour, a walk or a race. It also covers 'course' senses unrelated to routes, such as a meal or study course.
  車くるまはコースをはずれた。↗

  The car veered from its course.
• 進路しんろJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounNot an everyday word for a physical route: it is the course along which someone or something moves forward, such as a typhoon's course, and above all a person's future path in education or career.
  どの進路しんろを選えらんでも危険きけんが待ち受まちうけている。↗

  Whichever way we choose will involve danger.
• 経路けいろJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounA formal word for the path by which something travels — the route of a journey or an infection, or the route a mapping app calculates. Its 'channel' sense covers how something reaches a destination.
  彼かれは１人ひとりで飛とぶことに慣なれていた。そして彼かれは想像そうぞうの中なかで何度なんどもこの経路けいろを飛とんでいたのだ。↗

  He was accustomed to flying alone, and he had flown this route in his imagination many times.

「ルート」 is the way from A to B; 路線 covers scheduled bus, train and air services; 「コース」 is a set course; 進路 is the forward course of someone or something; 経路 is the path or channel something travels by.

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

• ルートroute
• 路線ろせんroute (bus, train, air, etc.)
• コースcourse
• 進路しんろroute
• 経路けいろcourse
• 道筋みちすじpath
• 通り道とおりみちpassage
• 道順みちじゅんroute
• 沿道えんどうroadside
• 途とway
• 路じroute
• 行き方いきかたway (of going)
• 道どうroad
• 行き道ゆきみちroute (when going somewhere)
• 沿路えんろroute
• 通い路かよいじroute
• 路次ろじway
• 工順こうじゅんjob sequencing
• 航路こうろ(air or sea) route
• 順路じゅんろ(regular) route
• 運転系統うんてんけいとう(bus) route
• 行きしないきしな(on) the way
• 道みちroute
• 道のりみちのりpath (e.g. to one's goal)
• 線せんline (e.g. of a railroad)
• 課題かだいroute (in climbing, bouldering, etc.)