Master Class: Work & Society Kanji (仕事と社会) — JLPT N3

Welcome, learner! Transitioning from daily-life Japanese to professional and societal contexts is one of the most exciting milestones of the JLPT N3 level.

To navigate Japanese workplaces and news, you must master the kanji that build the vocabulary of employment, labor, and corporate society. Today, we will break down four essential N3 Kanji, analyze their components, and see how they function in real-world grammar structures.

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1. 職 (Job, Employment, Office)

• On’yomi (Chinese Reading): ショク (Shoku)
• Kunyomi (Japanese Reading): None (commonly used in compounds)
• Radical: 耳 (Ear) — Mnemonic: At a job (職), you must keep your ears (耳) open to instructions.耳職

Essential Vocabulary

• 職業 (しょくぎょう): Occupation, profession職業
• 転職 (てんしょく): Career change (literally: "moving jobs")転職
• 退職 (たいしょく): Retirement, resigning from a job退職

Example Sentence

彼はキャリアアップのために転職を決意した。
Kare wa kyaria-appu no tame ni tenshoku o ketsui shita.
Translation: He decided to change careers to advance his career.
Grammar Note: 〜のために (N3) here indicates purpose ("for the sake of / in order to").彼転職決意

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2. 求 (Seek, Request, Demand)

• On’yomi: キュウ (Kyū)
• Kunyomi: もと.める (Moto.meru)
• Stroke Tip: Start with the central vertical hook, followed by the left and right strokes. Do not confuse it with 水 (water).水

Essential Vocabulary

• 求人 (きゅうじん): Job recruitment / Job offer (literally: "seeking people")求人
• 要求 (ようきゅう): Demand, request要求
• 求める (もとめる): To seek, to request (Verb)求

Example Sentence

多くの企業が優秀な人材を求めている。
Ōku no kigyou ga yūshū na jinzai o motomete iru.
Translation: Many companies are seeking talented human resources.
Particle Breakdown: を marks the direct object (人材 - talent), followed by the transitive verb 求める in its continuous (~ている) state.多企業優秀人

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3. 給 (Salary, Provide, Feed)

• On’yomi: キュウ (Kyū)
• Kunyomi: None (in common N3 usage)
• Radical: 糸 (Thread) — Mnemonic: Connecting threads together to supply/provide resources.糸

Essential Vocabulary

• 給料 (きゅうりょう): Salary, wages給料
• 支給 (しきゅう): Payment, allowance, provision支給
• 有給休暇 (ゆうきゅうきゅうか): Paid leave (often abbreviated as 有給 yūkyū)有給休暇

Example Sentence

わが社は交通費が全額支給されます。
Waga sha wa kōtsūhi ga zengaku shikyū saremasu.
Translation: Our company pays travel expenses in full.
Grammar Note: 支給されます is the passive form (受身形) of 支給する, commonly used in business to sound objective and polite.社交通費全額

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4. 労 (Labor, Toil, Trouble)

• On’yomi: ロウ (Rō)
• Kunyomi: ねぎら.う (Negira.u - to thank for good service)
• Radical: 力 (Power/Strength) — Mnemonic: Expending physical power (力) under a burning roof (the top component) represents hard labor.力

Essential Vocabulary

• 労働 (ろうどう): Manual labor, work労働
• 苦労 (くろう): Hardship, trouble, toil苦労
• 労働基準法 (ろうどうきじゅんほう): Labor Standards Act (highly relevant for working in Japan!)労働基準法

Example Sentence

現代の日本社会では、労働環境の改善が叫ばれている。
Gendai no Nihon shakai de wa, rōdō kankyou no kaizen ga sababarete iru.
Translation: In modern Japanese society, the improvement of working environments is being clamored for.
Grammar Note: 〜つつある (N3 - "is in the process of") could also be used here to express ongoing change: 改善されつつある (is gradually being improved).現代日本社会

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Quick Review Quiz

Can you read the underlined words and translate this sentence?

A社の①求人に応募したが、②給料の条件が合わなかった。社求人応募給

(Answer: ① きゅうじん - job post, ② きゅうりょう - salary. "I applied for Company A's job opening, but the salary conditions did not match.")

Keep practicing these kanji in context, and you will quickly master the language of the Japanese professional world! がんばってください！