School Subjects in Japan - Vocabulary in Japanese

Have you ever asked what school subjects there are in Japan? What subjects are covered at a university in Japan? The Japanese have a freedom when it comes to studying, they can choose which subjects to learn, of course there are mandatory ones. In this article, we are going to see a list of school subjects in Japanese.

Japanese subjects include Japanese language, social studies, mathematics, science, music, arts, health and physical education, as well as different classes such as domestic and industrial work, moral education and citizenship. It is worth mentioning the kanji Gaku [学] means to learn and study, it will be present in many of the subjects and words in this article.

Unlike school subjects in Brazil, academic subjects in Japan are divided into 4 categories that we will see throughout this article.

We also recommend reading:

• Universities in Japan: learn how to start your studies in the country
• How are schools in Japan? 50 Curiosities and Rules

人文学 / Hito bungaku / Human Sciences

Humanities does not refer to science as we know it, but to the study and human behavior.

Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Portuguese
哲学	て つ が く	philosophy	Philosophy
歴 史	れ き し	history	History
文学	ぶ ん が く	Literature	Literature
語 学	ご が く	Gogaku	The study of language

• Gogaku should not be confused with 言語学 (gengogaku) "linguistics" (the study of language in general);

社会科学 / Shakai kagaku / Social Sciences

As the name suggests, this science studies the social aspects of the human world.

	Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Portuguese
	心理学	し ん り が く	psychology	Psychology
	社会学	し ゃ か い が く	sociology	Sociology
1	言語 学	げ ん ご が く	linguistics	Linguistics
2	人類学	じ ん る い が く	anthropology	Anthropology
	地理 (学)	ち り (が く)	chiri (gaku)	Geography
3	経 済 (学)	け い ざ い (が く)	Keizai (gaku)	Economy
4	政治 学	せ い じ が く	political science	Political Science

1. Not to be confused with gogaku (語学) "the study of language" (learning a language such as Japanese or English);
2. 人類 (Jinrui) = Humanity;
3. 経済 (Keizai) = Economy;
4. 政治 (seiji) = Government / politics;

自然科学 / Shizen kagaku / Natural Sciences

	Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Portuguese
1	生物 (学)	せ い ぶ つ (が く)	seibutsu (gaku)	Biology
2	化学	か が く	science	Chemistry
	物理 (学)	ぶ つ り (が く)	butsuri (gaku)	Physics
	天文 (学)	て ん も ん (が く)	tenmon (gaku)	Astronomy
	地質 (学)	ち し つ (が く)	chishitsu (gaku)	Geology
3	環境 科学	か ん き ょ う か が く	Kankyou kagaku	environmental science

1. 生物 (seibutsu) = Living beings;
2. Science = Also pronounced kagaku, means "science";
3. 環境 (Kankyou) = Environment;

Other Japanese school subjects

Kanji	Kana	Rōmaji	Portuguese
数学	す う が く	mathematics	Mathematics
統計 (学)	と う け い (が く)	toukei (gaku)	Statistics
工 学	こ う が く	kōgaku	Engineering
医学	い が く	Medicine	medical science
	コンピューター・サイエンス	Konpyūtā Saiensu	Computer science
英語	え い ご	English	English
音楽	おんがく	music	Music
雪氷 学	せ っ ぴ ょ う が く	seppyougaku	Glaciology
史学	し が く	shigaku	History
家庭 科	か て い か	"Home economics"	Domestic economy
国語	こ く ご	kokugo	Japanese
日本語	に ほ ん ご	nihongo	Japanese
体育	た い い く	physical education	Physical Education
宗教	し ゅ う き ょ う	Religion	Religion

Unfortunately, some subjects may have been left off the list, such as optional subjects or school clubs. Thank you for visiting our site, we appreciate the comments and shares. xD