遠洋|えんようen'you[0]heiban (flat)

1. no-adjectiveocean; deep sea

• Synonym外洋がいようNeutralOpen offshore waters, as opposed to sheltered bays; stresses open water rather than distance from land, unlike 「遠洋」.
• Synonym遠海えんかいWrittenWritten, formal-prose word for waters far from land, but rare; in speech and compounds like 「遠洋漁業」, 「遠洋」 is standard.
• Synonym外海がいかいNeutralThe sea beyond land-enclosed waters; can also mean distant seas, so it partly overlaps with 「遠洋」, but stresses waters outside the bay.
• Related大洋たいようNeutralGeographic term for the oceans themselves, such as the Pacific; 「遠洋」 instead stresses sea areas far from land.
• Related海原うなばらWrittenNative Japanese word for the boundless open sea, with a literary feel; 「遠洋」 is a geographic term for being far offshore.
• Related大海たいかいNeutralA vast expanse of sea; stresses size rather than distance from shore, as in 「井の中の蛙大海を知らず」.
• Related大海原おおうなばらWrittenThe vast ocean, an even grander image than 「海原」; strongly literary, found mostly in poetry and prose.
• Antonym近海きんかいNeutralWaters close to land — the opposite of 「遠洋」, as in 「近海漁業」.
• Antonym沿岸えんがんNeutralCoastal waters or the coastal area itself; the opposite of 「遠洋」, which lies far from land.

Use 「遠洋」 for seas far from land, as in 「遠洋漁業」 and 「遠洋航海」. For the oceans themselves say 「大洋」, for open offshore waters 「外洋」, and in literary style 「大海原」. The opposites are 「近海」 and 「沿岸」.

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

1. 陸地りくちから遠とおく離はなれた海うみ。