Translation guide
The English word "housekeeping" covers several distinct concepts: the physical act of cleaning and maintaining a home, the organizational tasks in a hotel or institution, and the administrative or preparatory tasks in a meeting or computer system. This guide breaks down these meanings and provides natural Japanese equivalents for each.
The regular cleaning, tidying, and upkeep of a household.
The most common and general word for housework or domestic chores. It covers cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc.
It's tough doing housework every day.
Let's share the housework.
Specifically refers to cleaning (sweeping, wiping, vacuuming, etc.). Use this when the focus is on cleaning rather than general chores.
I clean the whole house on weekends.
Refers to tidying up, putting things away, or decluttering. Often used for organizing a room or desk.
I made the kids tidy up their toys.
A casual, natural phrase meaning "to do things around the house." It's broader than 家事 and can include small repairs or gardening.
I was doing stuff around the house all day today.
The department or service responsible for cleaning rooms and maintaining facilities in hotels, hospitals, etc.
The direct loanword from English, commonly used in the hotel industry. It refers specifically to the housekeeping department or service.
I asked housekeeping for extra towels.
Literally "guest room cleaning." Used in hotels to refer to the cleaning of rooms. More descriptive than the loanword.
General word for cleaning, often used in institutional contexts. Can refer to the cleaning staff or the act of cleaning.
Routine tasks necessary for the smooth running of a meeting, event, or organization, such as taking minutes, setting agendas, etc.
Means "clerical or administrative tasks." This is the most natural way to refer to the non-substantive tasks in a meeting or office.
Let's get the housekeeping items out of the way at the start of the meeting.
Refers to operational or administrative tasks. Slightly more formal, used in business contexts.
In Japanese business settings, it's often clearer to name the specific task rather than using a generic term like "housekeeping."
I'll take the minutes.
Routine tasks performed by a computer system to optimize performance, such as memory management, file cleanup, etc.
The direct translation "家事" is correct for domestic housework, but in English "housekeeping" can also refer to hotel services or administrative tasks. Using "家事" in those contexts would be confusing. Always consider the specific meaning first.
hotel housekeeping (unnatural)
In modern Japanese, the loanword "ハウスキーピング" is well understood in hotel and IT contexts. However, in traditional business settings, it's safer to use descriptive phrases like "事務的な作業" to avoid sounding overly casual or jargon-heavy.
Room cleaning is done in the morning.
清掃の方が廊下をモップがけしていました。
The cleaning staff were mopping the hallway.
Let's put off the housekeeping tasks for later.
次の会議の日程調整をお願いします。
Please handle the scheduling for the next meeting.
Server housekeeping is done late at night.