Japanese Tech and Computer Vocabulary You Will Use

Why tech Japanese looks easy and is not

A learner opening a Japanese settings screen for the first time usually feels two things in quick succession. The first is relief, because half the words are katakana and clearly English underneath. The second is confusion, because the katakana has been clipped, respelled and sometimes redefined, and the words that carry the real instructions are kanji compounds with no English inside them at all.

The way through is to treat the two halves differently. Katakana tech words reward reading practice: sound them out slowly and the English will usually surface. Kanji menu words reward memorisation as fixed labels, because you will press them thousands of times and never need to analyse the characters. Do not try to learn either half in isolation from a screen; open a device and read as you go.

A tech vocabulary table to keep

Read down the kanji column and notice how short the words are. Two characters is the standard length for a button label, which is why Japanese interfaces fit so much into a narrow menu. Once these thirty or so labels are automatic, you can navigate almost any device in Japanese even if the surrounding help text is beyond you.

Loanwords whose English is hiding

These are the words that catch people out, because the English speaker's guess is wrong rather than merely slow. Konsento does not mean consent; it is the socket in the wall. Nōto pasokon is a laptop, not a paper notebook. Meado is a mail address. Sabusuku is a subscription. Giga, in everyday speech, means the mobile data allowance rather than a unit, so giga ga tarinai means I am nearly out of data.

A second group is formed by clipping. Apuri is an application, netto is the internet, rimokon is a remote control, dejikame is a digital camera, and kopipe is copy and paste, used as a verb with suru. Garakē, from Galapagos keitai, is the older folding feature phone. When you meet an unfamiliar katakana word, try adding syllables back rather than looking for a Japanese root.

• コンセント konsento: a wall socket, from the plug, not agreement.
• パソコン pasokon: any computer, desktop or laptop.
• ノートパソコン nōto pasokon: a laptop specifically.
• アプリ apuri: an app, clipped from application.
• ネット netto: the internet, used in netto de shirabemasu.
• メアド meado: an email address, clipped from mēru adoresu.
• サブスク sabusuku: a subscription service.
• ギガ giga: your monthly mobile data allowance in ordinary speech.
• モバイルバッテリー mobairu batterī: a power bank.
• コピペ kopipe: copy and paste, used as kopipe suru.
• リモコン rimokon: a remote control.
• フリーズ furīzu: a freeze; the phone or app has stopped responding.

The verbs of using a device

Nouns get you through a menu, but you need verbs to describe an action to someone helping you. Most device verbs are either a plain Japanese verb, such as osu for press or hiraku for open, or a loanword plus suru, such as tappu suru and insutōru suru. The te-form plus kudasai turns any of them into an instruction, which is exactly the shape a helper will use back at you.

Two pairs deserve attention. Tsunagu is transitive, to connect something, while tsunagaru is intransitive, for a connection that happens or fails: Wai-Fai ga tsunagarimasen is the natural way to say the Wi-Fi will not connect. Similarly, tsukeru is to switch something on, while tsuku is for a device that comes on by itself.

Wi-Fi, signal and the trouble sentence pattern

Almost every device complaint in Japanese uses one shape: a noun, the particle ga, and a verb in the negative or the potential negative. Jūden ga dekimasen, I cannot charge it. Oto ga demasen, no sound comes out. Once you own that pattern you can build a new complaint on the spot from any noun in the table above, which matters more than memorising the individual sentences.

Two of these carry a nuance worth knowing. Otoshite shimaimashita uses shimau to signal that it was a mistake with a bad outcome, which is why it sounds appropriately rueful. Ochimasu for a crashing app is the same verb as to fall, and it is the normal casual-but-acceptable way to describe it in a shop.

Accounts, passwords and verification

Sign-up screens repeat a small set of words. Tōroku is registration, ninshō is authentication, honnin kakunin is identity verification, and nidankai ninshō is two-step verification. A code sent to you is a kakunin kōdo or an anshō bangō if it is a fixed PIN. Riyō kiyaku is the terms of use, and the button you press to accept them is usually dōi suru.

The most useful sentence in this area is the one that admits a problem early: pasuwādo o wasuremashita. Japanese support staff and colleagues respond to that with a clear procedure, and trying to solve it silently usually ends with a locked account.

Updates, storage and a phone that is full

Kōshin and appudēto both mean update, with the kanji word more common on system screens and the katakana word more common in speech about apps. Yōryō is capacity and aki yōryō is free space, so yōryō ga tarinai means there is not enough room. Sakujo is delete on a button, but in speech people say kesu. Shokika, resetting to factory state, is the word you want to hear clearly before anyone does it to your device.

Asking someone for help with a device

Asking for help with technology is a social act, and Japanese has a comfortable frame for it. Open with sumimasen, add chotto to soften the size of the request, and end with oshiete itadakemasu ka rather than a bare imperative. If you are being walked through steps, the two lines you need most are confirmations: koko o oseba ii desu ka and tsugi wa dō sureba ii desu ka.

At the counter with a broken phone

A repair counter conversation follows a predictable order, and knowing the order is more useful than knowing every word. You state the symptom, they ask when it started and whether you dropped it, they check the warranty, they tell you how long it will take, and they warn you about the data. Prepare one sentence for each of those five slots before you go in.

The line that surprises learners is oazukari shimasu, which means we will keep it here. If you hear it, your device is staying, so that is the moment to ask about data and about a replacement handset. Terms and repair conditions vary by shop and change over time, so confirm the details on the day rather than assuming.

How to make this vocabulary stick

• Switch one device to Japanese and read each label aloud before pressing it, for one week only.
• Write the six menu words you press most on a card and keep it beside the device.
• Build five new complaints from the noun plus ga plus negative verb pattern using words you have not practised.
• Sound out every unfamiliar katakana word slowly before guessing; the English usually appears on the second attempt.
• Rehearse the five counter slots aloud: symptom, when it started, whether you dropped it, warranty, time needed.
• Keep a list of the loanwords whose meaning surprised you; those are the ones that will trip you again.