Academic Japanese: Phrases for Reports, Essays, Theses

Academic Japanese: the language of reports and research

本稿 (honkō, “this paper”) replaces 私 as the subject of statements about aims.

Short answer: academic Japanese uses the plain である style, a three-part structure (序論 introduction, 本論 body, 結論 conclusion) and a set of phrases for stating aims (本稿では…を論じる), presenting evidence (〜によれば), hedging (〜と考えられる) and concluding (以上のことから). Vocabulary is heavily kango, and personal opinion is framed cautiously rather than stated as 私は思う.

Phrases by section

Reusable building blocks for each part of a paper.

序論 introduction

本論 body

結論 conclusion

Hedging and stance

Academic writing avoids overclaiming. These endings set how strongly you assert something.

Ending	Meaning	Strength
~ de aru	is	certain
~ to kangaerareru	it is thought that	strong, cautious
~ to ieru	it can be said that	moderate
~ kanōsei ga aru	it is possible that	weak
~ no de wa nai darō ka	might it not be that…?	tentative
~ to wa iigatai	it is hard to say that	negative

From spoken to academic

The same idea, rewritten for a report.

若者わかものwakamonoyoung peopleのno’s読書量どくしょりょうdokushoryōamount of readingはwa(topic)減少しているげんしょうしているgenshō shite iruis decreasing

Wakamono no dokushoryō wa genshō shite iru.“Young people are reading less.”Why: Spoken: 若い人はあまり本を読まなくなった. Academic: kango 減少 and plain style.

そのsonothat原因げんいんgen’incauseとしてto shiteasスマートフォンsumātofonsmartphonesのno’s普及ふきゅうfukyūspreadがga(subject)考えられるかんがえられるkangaerarerucan be considered

Sono gen’in to shite sumātofon no fukyū ga kangaerareru.“One possible cause is the spread of smartphones.”Why: Spoken: たぶんスマホのせいだと思う. Academic: hedged with 考えられる.

本稿ほんこうhonkōthis paperではde wainこのkonothis関係かんけいkankeirelationshipをo(object)分析するぶんせきするbunseki suruanalyse

Honkō de wa kono kankei o bunseki suru.“This paper analyses this relationship.”Why: The paper, not “I”, is the subject.

Giving an academic presentation

Spoken academic phrases for talks and seminars.

Questions after a talk

A short question-and-answer exchange.

貴重なきちょうなkichō navaluableご発表ごはっぴょうgohappyōpresentationありがとうございましたarigatō gozaimashitathank you

Kichō na gohappyō arigatō gozaimashita. · “Thank you for a valuable talk.”The standard opening to a question.

一点いってんittenone point質問しつもんshitsumonquestionさせてくださいsasete kudasailet me

Itten shitsumon sasete kudasai. · “May I ask one question?”

ご質問ごしつもんgoshitsumonyour questionありがとうございますarigatō gozaimasuthank you

Goshitsumon arigatō gozaimasu. · “Thank you for the question.”

今後こんごkongoin futureのno’s課題かだいkadaitaskとtoasさせていただきますsasete itadakimasuI will take it

Kongo no kadai to sasete itadakimasu. · “I will take that as an issue for future work.”A graceful way to handle a hard question.

Check yourself

Try each one, then open the answer to check and hear it.

This paper discusses…
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Honkō de wa ~ ni tsuite ronjiru.
It is thought that…
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~ to kangaerareru.
From the above…
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ijō no koto kara
Thank you for listening.
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Goseichō arigatō gozaimashita.
according to Tanaka (2020)
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Tanaka (2020) ni yoreba

Citing sources

Common ways to bring in other researchers’ work.