How to say "runner-up" in Japanese

• 次点じてんCommon
  nounThe direct equivalent for the runner-up in a contest or election: the person or entry with the next-best score or vote count after the winner.
• 二番にばんCommon
  nounThe plain word for 'second' or 'number two': use it when you simply mean coming second, and it conveys runner-up only in that loose sense of finishing second, not as a set contest term.
  ２番ばん通路つうろです。↗

  They're in aisle two.
• 次席じせきCommon
  no-adjectiveReally means the position next in rank — an associate, junior or assistant standing just below the top — so it is seldom the word you want for the runner-up of a competition.

Use 次点 for the runner-up of a contest or election, 二番 when you simply mean coming second or number two, and 次席 for the person next in rank within an organization rather than a competition result.

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

• 次点じてんrunner-up
• 二番にばんsecond
• 次席じせきassociate
• 次点者じてんしゃrunner-up
• 二着にちゃくrunner-up