を通して・
Two meanings, and the word before tells you which. After a person, a medium or an experience, it is "through". After a stretch of time, it is "throughout".
through
I met the president of my current company through a friend.
throughout
The wind is strong in this area throughout the year.
How to form it
Noun + を通して ／ Noun + を通じて
The two mean the same in both uses. を通じて is a little stiffer, so news and reports lean to it. A verb goes in with こと: 交流することを通して.
Through: a person, a medium, an experience
The word before is the go-between: a friend who introduces you, a newsletter that carries the news, an experience that teaches you something. What follows is usually meeting someone, finding out, learning or passing something on.
I learned about local disaster-prevention activities through the city newsletter.
We were given a detailed explanation through our local contact.
By spending time with international students, I learned about cultural differences.
Out loud it is usually something shorter: 友だちの紹介で (introduced by a friend), ネットで, テレビで.
English "through" is also the way you travel. That one is the verb 通る.
Not said: 公園を
(I walked through the park to the station.)
公園を通って駅まで歩きました.
Throughout: a stretch of time
Before it, a period taken as one whole: a year, the four seasons, a lifetime, a school term. What follows stays true, or keeps happening, from one end to the other. Out loud, 一年中 or ずっと does the same job.
This region has a mild climate throughout the year.
一年を通して says the same.
Throughout her life, she went on recording regional folktales.
The study group met twice a month throughout the term.
Not without a break. It kept happening all term.
Close neighbours
によってN3
The method that gets something done, in reports: "by means of".
Through a survey, we found out what users wanted.
にわたってN2
Stresses how long or how wide something stretches: over three years, across the whole country.
The construction work went on for three years.
Check yourself
1What does を通して mean here?
彼は
Choose an answer to see why.
2"Every morning I go through the shopping street to the station."
毎朝、
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
Before a noun
を通した or を通じた, and with の, を通しての or を通じての.
I put the changes in temperature over the year into a graph.
Through glass
を通して is also the plain "through" of light and sight.
Morning light comes in through the curtains.
More sentences
I met that researcher through an older student from my university.
Through photographs, she shows people overseas what life in her hometown is like.
Through local volunteer work, I got to know people of different generations.
In this garden, you can enjoy all kinds of flowers through all four seasons.
Strict security was kept up throughout the conference.