BJT Vocabulary · Part 16

Top 100 BJT Words: Economy, Finance & Business News (Part 16)

The BJT often uses news-style Japanese. This section covers vocabulary for the economy and business climate, markets and investment, company results, industry news such as mergers and bankruptcies, and government policy, trade and statistics. Learning these words will help you understand business news and reports.

Tap the info icon next to any word to see its meaning, how it is used, and 6 example sentences with hiragana and romaji.

1. Economy & Business Climate

No.	Meaning	Japanese	Hiragana	Romaji
1	Economy; business conditions	景気	けいき	keiki
2	Economic boom; prosperity	好況	こうきょう	koukyou
3	Recession; economic slump	不況	ふきょう	fukyou
4	Prices (cost of living)	物価	ぶっか	bukka
5	Economic recovery	景気回復	けいきかいふく	keiki kaifuku
6	Inflation	インフレ	いんふれ	infure
7	Deflation	デフレ	でふれ	defure
8	Economic growth	経済成長	けいざいせいちょう	keizai seichou
9	Economic downturn; recession	景気後退	けいきこうたい	keiki koutai
10	Slump; stagnation	低迷	ていめい	teimei
11	Consumer spending; private consumption	個人消費	こじんしょうひ	kojin shouhi
12	Employment situation	雇用情勢	こようじょうせい	koyou jousei
13	Unemployment rate	失業率	しつぎょうりつ	shitsugyouritsu
14	Gross domestic product (GDP)	国内総生産	こくないそうせいさん	kokunai souseisan
15	Price increase	値上げ	ねあげ	neage
16	Domestic demand	内需	ないじゅ	naiju
17	External demand; foreign demand	外需	がいじゅ	gaiju
18	Outlook; the future (prospects)	先行き	さきゆき	sakiyuki
19	Slowdown; deceleration	減速	げんそく	gensoku
20	World economy; global economy	世界経済	せかいけいざい	sekai keizai

2. Markets & Investment

No.	Meaning	Japanese	Hiragana	Romaji
21	Share price; stock price	株価	かぶか	kabuka
22	Shares; stock	株式	かぶしき	kabushiki
23	Shareholder	株主	かぶぬし	kabunushi
24	Investor	投資家	とうしか	toushika
25	Strong yen; yen appreciation	円高	えんだか	endaka
26	Weak yen; yen depreciation	円安	えんやす	en'yasu
27	Interest rate	金利	きんり	kinri
28	Interest rate hike	利上げ	りあげ	riage
29	Interest rate cut	利下げ	りさげ	risage
30	Securities	証券	しょうけん	shouken
31	Stock market	株式市場	かぶしきしじょう	kabushiki shijou
32	Rise; increase	上昇	じょうしょう	joushou
33	Fall; decline (in price)	下落	げらく	geraku
34	Plunge; sharp fall	急落	きゅうらく	kyuuraku
35	Rebound (in prices); backlash	反発	はんぱつ	hanpatsu
36	Dividend	配当	はいとう	haitou
37	Bond	債券	さいけん	saiken
38	Government bond	国債	こくさい	kokusai
39	Market price; market (rate)	相場	そうば	souba
40	Market capitalisation	時価総額	じかそうがく	jika sougaku

3. Corporate Finance & Results

No.	Meaning	Japanese	Hiragana	Romaji
41	Financial results; account settlement	決算	けっさん	kessan
42	Business performance; results	業績	ぎょうせき	gyouseki
43	Revenue increase	増収	ぞうしゅう	zoushuu
44	Revenue decrease	減収	げんしゅう	genshuu
45	Profit increase	増益	ぞうえき	zoueki
46	Profit decrease	減益	げんえき	gen'eki
47	Surplus; in the black (profit)	黒字	くろじ	kuroji
48	Deficit; in the red (loss)	赤字	あかじ	akaji
49	Listing (on a stock exchange)	上場	じょうじょう	joujou
50	Operating profit	営業利益	えいぎょうりえき	eigyou rieki
51	Net profit; net income	純利益	じゅんりえき	jun rieki
52	Ordinary profit (recurring profit)	経常利益	けいじょうりえき	keijou rieki
53	Earnings forecast	業績予想	ぎょうせきよそう	gyouseki yosou
54	Upward revision	上方修正	じょうほうしゅうせい	jouhou shuusei
55	Downward revision	下方修正	かほうしゅうせい	kahou shuusei
56	Record profit	最高益	さいこうえき	saikoueki
57	Capital increase	増資	ぞうし	zoushi
58	Capital investment; capital expenditure	設備投資	せつびとうし	setsubi toushi
59	General meeting of shareholders	株主総会	かぶぬしそうかい	kabunushi soukai
60	Retained earnings	内部留保	ないぶりゅうほ	naibu ryuuho

4. Industry & Companies in the News

No.	Meaning	Japanese	Hiragana	Romaji
61	Other companies in the same industry; competitors	同業他社	どうぎょうたしゃ	dougyou tasha
62	Major company; leading firm	大手	おおて	oote
63	Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)	中小企業	ちゅうしょうきぎょう	chuushou kigyou
64	Holding company	持株会社	もちかぶがいしゃ	mochikabu gaisha
65	Sale of a business; divestiture	事業売却	じぎょうばいきゃく	jigyou baikyaku
66	Bankruptcy; business failure	倒産	とうさん	tousan
67	Business collapse; corporate failure	経営破綻	けいえいはたん	keiei hatan
68	Business expansion	事業拡大	じぎょうかくだい	jigyou kakudai
69	Foreign-affiliated (company)	外資系	がいしけい	gaishikei
70	Corporate restructuring; business turnaround	経営再建	けいえいさいけん	keiei saiken
71	Civil rehabilitation (court-supervised restructuring)	民事再生	みんじさいせい	minji saisei
72	Business integration; merger of management	経営統合	けいえいとうごう	keiei tougou
73	Reorganisation; restructuring (of an industry)	再編	さいへん	saihen
74	Startup; emerging company	新興企業	しんこうきぎょう	shinkou kigyou
75	Long-established business (shop or company)	老舗	しにせ	shinise
76	Management team; top management	経営陣	けいえいじん	keieijin
77	Restructuring; job cuts	リストラ	りすとら	risutora
78	Top position; first place	首位	しゅい	shui
79	Under the umbrella of; affiliated with	傘下	さんか	sanka
80	Scandal; misconduct	不祥事	ふしょうじ	fushouji

5. Policy, Trade & Statistics

No.	Meaning	Japanese	Hiragana	Romaji
81	Government	政府	せいふ	seifu
82	Regulation; restriction	規制	きせい	kisei
83	Deregulation	規制緩和	きせいかんわ	kisei kanwa
84	Subsidy; grant	補助金	ほじょきん	hojokin
85	Trade (international)	貿易	ぼうえき	boueki
86	Tariff; customs duty	関税	かんぜい	kanzei
87	Balance of trade; trade balance	貿易収支	ぼうえきしゅうし	boueki shuushi
88	Statistics	統計	とうけい	toukei
89	Year-on-year; compared with the previous year	前年比	ぜんねんひ	zennenhi
90	Flat; leveling off (no change)	横ばい	よこばい	yokobai
91	Trend; change over time	推移	すいい	suii
92	Bank of Japan (BOJ)	日銀	にちぎん	nichigin
93	Monetary policy	金融政策	きんゆうせいさく	kin'yuu seisaku
94	Public finances; fiscal affairs	財政	ざいせい	zaisei
95	Economic stimulus measures	経済対策	けいざいたいさく	keizai taisaku
96	Tax cut	減税	げんぜい	genzei
97	Tax increase	増税	ぞうぜい	zouzei
98	Tax revenue	税収	ぜいしゅう	zeishuu
99	Index (economic/statistical)	指数	しすう	shisuu
100	Estimate; trial calculation	試算	しさん	shisan

Common Mix-ups in This List

Words that BJT learners often confuse, and how to tell them apart.

How is 景気 (keiki) different from similar words?

経済 (keizai) is the economy as a system or field; 景気 is the current condition or mood of that economy (good or bad times).

Usage: 景気がいい／悪い (keiki ga ii / warui), 景気が回復する (keiki ga kaifuku suru), 景気の動向 (keiki no doukou, economic trends). Often heard in news reports and business conversation.

How is 景気回復 (keiki kaifuku) different from similar words?

景気回復 is improvement from a low point; 経済成長 (keizai seichou) is long-term expansion of the economy's size.

Usage: 景気回復の兆し (keiki kaifuku no kizashi, signs of recovery), 景気回復が進む／遅れる (keiki kaifuku ga susumu / okureru), 景気回復を支える (… wo sasaeru).

How is 景気後退 (keiki koutai) different from similar words?

景気後退 emphasises the shift downward; 不況 (fukyou) is the resulting state of bad times.

Usage: 景気後退への懸念 (keiki koutai e no kenen), 景気後退に陥る (… ni ochiiru), 景気後退局面 (keiki koutai kyokumen, downturn phase).

How is 失業率 (shitsugyouritsu) different from similar words?

失業率 is a rate; 失業者 (shitsugyousha) are the unemployed people. 有効求人倍率 (yuukou kyuujin bairitsu) is the jobs-to-applicants ratio, another job-market indicator.

Usage: 失業率が上がる／下がる (shitsugyouritsu ga agaru / sagaru), 完全失業率 (kanzen shitsugyouritsu, Japan's official unemployment rate), 失業率の推移 (… no suii, trend).

How is 外需 (gaiju) different from similar words?

外需 is the opposite of 内需 (naiju, domestic demand). 輸出 (yushutsu) is the act of exporting itself.

Usage: 外需が伸びる／落ち込む (gaiju ga nobiru / ochikomu), 外需に依存する (gaiju ni izon suru), 外需主導の成長 (gaiju shudou no seichou, export-led growth).

How is 株価 (kabuka) different from similar words?

株価 is the price of a share; 株式 (kabushiki) is the share itself, and 時価総額 (jika sougaku) is the total market value of all of a company's shares.

Usage: 株価が上がる／下がる (kabuka ga agaru / sagaru), 株価が上昇する／下落する (… joushou suru / geraku suru), 株価の回復 (kabuka no kaifuku).

How is 円高 (endaka) different from similar words?

円高 is the opposite of 円安 (en'yasu). Careful: a "higher" yen means FEWER yen per dollar.

Usage: 円高が進む (endaka ga susumu), 円高に振れる (endaka ni fureru, to swing toward a strong yen), 円高傾向 (endaka keikou), 円高の影響.

How is 利下げ (risage) different from similar words?

利下げ is the opposite of 利上げ (riage). 値下げ (nesage) means cutting the price of goods.

Usage: 利下げに踏み切る (risage ni fumikiru), 利下げを見送る (risage wo miokuru), 利下げ観測 (risage kansoku, rate-cut speculation), 利下げを織り込む (… wo orikomu, to price in).

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