Words
Japanese words for work.
Words that come up when work gets hard in Japan, with what they mean in practice.
34 words
パワハラ
pawahara
Power harassment
Short for パワーハラスメント. Japan's law counts it as behavior that relies on a position of power, goes beyond what the work needs, and harms someone's working environment. Employers must take steps to prevent it: large companies since June 2020, all companies since April 2022.
セクハラ
sekuhara
Sexual harassment
Short for セクシュアルハラスメント. Employers in Japan have been required to take steps to prevent it since 2007.
マタハラ
matahara
Harassment over pregnancy or childcare
Short for マタニティハラスメント: treating someone badly because they're pregnant, have given birth, or take maternity or childcare leave. Employers must take steps to prevent it.
モラハラ
morahara
Moral harassment
Ongoing emotional abuse through words or attitude, like belittling, mocking or ignoring someone. It's an everyday word rather than a legal term; at work it often falls under power harassment.
いじめ
ijime
Bullying
The everyday word, used at school and at work. At work you'll also hear 職場いじめ, workplace bullying.
精神的な攻撃
せいしんてきなこうげき · seishinteki na kōgeki
Verbal or emotional attacks
Threats, insults, or putting someone down in front of others. One of the six types of power harassment the labor ministry describes.
身体的な攻撃
しんたいてきなこうげき · shintaiteki na kōgeki
Physical attacks
Hitting, kicking, or throwing things at someone. One of the six types of power harassment the labor ministry describes.
人間関係からの切り離し
にんげんかんけいからのきりはなし · ningen kankei kara no kirihanashi
Cutting someone off
Isolating someone: ignoring them, leaving them out, or moving them away from everyone else. One of the six types of power harassment the labor ministry describes.
過大な要求
かだいなようきゅう · kadai na yōkyū
Impossible demands
Work that plainly can't be done, or isn't needed, handed over to wear someone down. One of the six types of power harassment the labor ministry describes.
過小な要求
かしょうなようきゅう · kashō na yōkyū
Work far beneath someone
Giving someone work far below their ability, or none at all, with no reason the job needs. One of the six types of power harassment the labor ministry describes.
個の侵害
このしんがい · ko no shingai
Intruding into private life
Prying into or interfering with someone's private matters beyond what work needs. One of the six types of power harassment the labor ministry describes.
上司
じょうし · jōshi
Your boss
Anyone above you in the reporting line, not only your direct manager.
部下
ぶか · buka
Someone who reports to you
The opposite of 上司.
先輩 / 後輩
せんぱい / こうはい · senpai / kōhai
Senior / junior
Who joined the company, or the school, before or after you. It often shapes who speaks up and who is expected to defer.
人事
じんじ · jinji
HR
The personnel department: hiring, transfers, evaluations and discipline.
報連相
ほうれんそう · hōrensō
Report, inform, consult
The expectation that you keep your boss updated: 報告 (report), 連絡 (inform) and 相談 (consult). It sounds like the word for spinach, which is how people remember it.
残業
ざんぎょう · zangyō
Overtime
Work past your set hours. Overtime has had legal upper limits since 2019 for large companies and 2020 for smaller ones.
サービス残業
サービスざんぎょう · sābisu zangyō
Unpaid overtime
Working extra hours without being paid for them. Japan's Labor Standards Act requires overtime to be paid, so it's against the law, but it still happens.
有給休暇
ゆうきゅうきゅうか · yūkyū kyūka
Paid leave
Often shortened to 有給. After six months in a job, having worked at least 80% of working days, you get 10 days a year, rising with time served. Since 2019, employers must make sure anyone given 10 or more days takes at least 5.
飲み会
のみかい · nomikai
Drinks with colleagues
After-work drinking that can feel like part of the job. Pressuring someone to drink is called アルハラ, alcohol harassment.
根回し
ねまわし · nemawashi
Building agreement before the meeting
Talking an idea through with people one at a time, so the meeting itself goes smoothly. The word comes from digging around a tree's roots before moving it.
空気を読む
くうきをよむ · kūki o yomu
Reading the air
Sensing what's expected without being told. Someone who doesn't is called KY, short for 空気が読めない.
建前 / 本音
たてまえ / ほんね · tatemae / honne
What you say / what you really think
The public face and the private truth. The gap between them is where niceness can crowd out kindness.
和
わ · wa
Harmony
Keeping a group together and free of open conflict. It's prized, and it can make speaking up feel like a threat to the group.
忖度
そんたく · sontaku
Acting on unspoken wishes
Doing what you guess someone powerful wants, before they ask, or without them asking at all.
同調圧力
どうちょうあつりょく · dōchō atsuryoku
Pressure to conform
The push to go along with the group, even when you disagree.
年功序列
ねんこうじょれつ · nenkō joretsu
Seniority-based pay and rank
Moving up by years served rather than by results. Less common than it was, but it still shapes many workplaces.
過労死
かろうし · karōshi
Death from overwork
Japan recognizes it officially, and a 2014 law set out national measures to prevent it.
総合労働相談コーナー
そうごうろうどうそうだんコーナー · sōgō rōdō sōdan kōnā
Labor consultation corners
Free advice from the labor ministry, at prefectural labor bureaus and labor standards inspection offices, on harassment, dismissal and other work problems, in person or by phone.
労働基準監督署
ろうどうきじゅんかんとくしょ · rōdō kijun kantokusho
Labor Standards Inspection Office
Often called 労基署. It enforces the rules on pay, hours and safety, like unpaid overtime.
相談窓口
そうだんまどぐち · sōdan madoguchi
Where to raise a complaint
Employers must set up a point of contact for harassment complaints, and must not treat anyone badly for using it.
産業医
さんぎょうい · sangyōi
Workplace doctor
Workplaces with 50 or more workers must appoint one. They advise on health, including stress and overwork.
労働組合
ろうどうくみあい · rōdō kumiai
Labor union
Even without a union at work, you can join one open to individuals, often called a ユニオン or 合同労組.
こころの耳
こころのみみ · kokoro no mimi
The labor ministry's mental health site
Information on stress at work, with counseling for workers by phone, email and social media.
Laws and services change. Check the labor ministry's site, mhlw.go.jp, for the current rules.