Translation guide
A person who investigates, such as a detective, researcher, or inspector. Japanese distinguishes between police detectives, private investigators, academic researchers, and official inspectors. The most common and natural term depends heavily on context.
A police officer who investigates crimes.
Standard term for a police detective. Used in news, dramas, and everyday conversation.
He wants to become a detective.
The detectives arrived at the scene.
Formal term for an investigator, often used for government agencies like the FBI or in official contexts. Not typically used for local police detectives.
Refers to a member of an investigation team, often used in news reports. Slightly more generic than 刑事.
A person hired to investigate private matters, not a police officer.
A person who systematically investigates a subject to discover facts or principles.
A person who officially examines or inspects something, such as an accident or crime scene.
A person who investigates insurance claims to prevent fraud.
Specific term for an insurance investigator.
A reporter who deeply investigates a story.
Investigative journalist. Often shortened to just 記者 in context.
The English word 'investigator' is broad. Direct translation as 調査者 (ちょうさしゃ) is rarely used and sounds unnatural. Choose a specific term based on context.
刑事 is a police detective, while 探偵 is a private detective. Using the wrong one can cause confusion. In Japanese media, 探偵 often refers to classic detective characters like Sherlock Holmes, while 刑事 is used for police procedurals.
FBIの捜査官が事件を担当している。
FBI investigators are handling the case.
捜査員が証拠を集めている。
Investigators are gathering evidence.
Standard term for a private detective. Often associated with investigating affairs or missing persons.
She hired a private investigator to look into her husband's affair.
Open a detective agency.
Explicitly 'private detective', often used to distinguish from police. Common in fiction.
He is a famous private investigator.
General term for a researcher in any academic or scientific field.
He is a cancer researcher.
Many investigators are working on this problem.
Investigator in the sense of someone who conducts surveys or inspections, often for government or organizations.
Investigators were dispatched to determine the cause of the accident.
Public prosecutor, but can be translated as 'investigator' in legal contexts. Specifically a government lawyer who investigates and prosecutes cases.
The prosecutor is investigating the case.
Inspector or investigator within an organization, such as police internal affairs.
The inspector is investigating the misconduct.
The insurance investigator confirmed the circumstances of the accident.
As an investigative journalist, he exposed corruption.