を通じてThroughout an entire period or range
を通じて says that a state continues, or an activity occurs repeatedly, across the whole of a named period or range.
How the whole-period meaning works
The noun before the expression names the full span being considered. What follows must apply across that span. This may be one continuing state, but it can also be an activity repeated at intervals; it does not have to be one uninterrupted event.
Continuous states and recurring activities
Natural range expressions
Typical nouns name years, seasons, lifetimes, academic terms, project periods, and other substantial spans. This construction is most useful when the writer wants readers to view the period as a whole, rather than merely state when one event happened.
Modifying a noun
を通じた and を通じての place the whole-period idea directly before a noun.
Whole period or intermediary?
For the whole-period meaning, を通じて and を通して overlap strongly. The target form is particularly comfortable in reports and formal descriptions, but there is no reliable rule that makes one form correct and the other incorrect in every whole-period sentence. Descriptions of their finer distribution vary, so learn the shared meaning first. A more important distinction is the noun before the expression: if it names a person, medium, tool, or experience that enables something, the phrase means “through” or “by means of,” not “throughout a span.”
私たちは現地の担当者を通じて、詳しい説明を受けた。
We received a detailed explanation through the local contact.
AnalyzeThis is the neighboring intermediary use, not the whole-period use taught on this page.
More examples
会議期間を通じて、厳重な警備体制が維持された。
Strict security measures were maintained throughout the conference.
Analyze彼女は生涯を通じて、地域医療に尽力した。
Throughout her life, she devoted herself to community health care.
Analyze年度を通じて、各部署が月例報告を提出する。
Throughout the fiscal year, each department submits a monthly report.
Analyze雨季を通じて、道路の一部は通行止めになっていた。
Part of the road remained closed throughout the rainy season.
Analyzeこの庭では、四季を通じてさまざまな花が楽しめる。
In this garden, visitors can enjoy a variety of flowers throughout all four seasons.
Analyze大会期間を通じた選手同士の交流も、大きな成果の一つだった。
The interaction among the athletes throughout the tournament was also one of its major achievements.
Analyze