Translation guide
The English word "kin" refers to family members, relatives, or people related by blood or marriage. In Japanese, expressing this concept depends on context, formality, and whether you are talking about your own family or someone else's.
Referring to your own family or relatives in a neutral or informal context.
The most common word for 'family', including immediate family members. Can also refer to one's household.
My family lives in Tokyo.
Refers to relatives, extended family, or kin beyond the immediate household.
Relatives gather for New Year's.
Refers to one's own family or close relatives, often with a nuance of 'insiders' or 'one's own people'.
We held the ceremony with just close family.
Referring to another person's family or relatives in a polite or formal context.
Emphasizing blood relationship or ancestry.
Refers to blood relationship or blood relatives. Often used in formal or legal contexts.
To investigate blood relations.
Refers to one's own flesh and blood, close blood relatives like parents, siblings, or children.
Legal term for blood relatives, often used in inheritance or family registry contexts.
Referring to the closest living relative, often in legal or emergency contexts.
Referring to relatives through marriage rather than blood.
Using 'kin' metaphorically to mean people who share a common bond or spirit.
The English word 'kin' is often used in a poetic or old-fashioned way. In Japanese, there is no single word that covers all nuances. Choose the appropriate term based on context: family (家族), relatives (親戚), blood relations (血縁), or in-laws (姻戚). Using the wrong term can sound unnatural or overly formal.
When talking about your own family to outsiders, use humble or neutral terms (家族, 親戚). When referring to someone else's family, add the honorific prefix ご (ご家族, ご親戚). This distinction is crucial in Japanese social interactions.
肉親の情に訴える。
To appeal to familial affection.
血族の範囲は法律で定められている。
The scope of blood relatives is defined by law.
親族が集まって遺産の話し合いをした。
The relatives gathered to discuss the inheritance.