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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.

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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
Philosophy て つ が く philosophy Philosophy
歴 史 れ き し history History
literature 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);
Japanese school subjects - Japanese vocabulary

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
psychology し ん り が く psychology Psychology
sociology し ゃ か い が く sociology Sociology
1 言語 学 げ ん ご が く linguistics Linguistics
2 Anthropology 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;
Japanese school subjects - Japanese vocabulary

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 Chemistry 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. Scientific = Also pronounced kagaku, means "science";
  3. 環境 (Kankyou) = Environment;
Japanese school subjects - Japanese vocabulary

Other Japanese school subjects

Kanji Kana Rōmaji Portuguese
Mathematics 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
medicine い が く Medicine medical science
Computer Science Konpyūtā Saiensu Computer science
English え い ご English English
Music music music Music
雪氷 学 せ っ ぴ ょ う が く seppyougaku Glaciology
historiography し が く shigaku History
家庭 科 か て い か "Home economics" Domestic economy
National language こ く ご kokugo Japanese
Japanese に ほ ん ご nihongo Japanese
Physical Education た い い く physical education Physical Education
Religion 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