Translation guide
A ropeway is a transportation system using suspended cables, often for sightseeing or crossing difficult terrain. In Japanese, the most common equivalent is ロープウェイ, but other related terms exist depending on the type and context.
The most common meaning: a cable car system with enclosed cabins, often used at tourist spots or ski resorts.
The standard Japanese word for a ropeway, typically an aerial lift with enclosed cabins. Used for sightseeing and transportation.
箱根ロープウェイに乗って、富士山を見ました。
I rode the Hakone Ropeway and saw Mt. Fuji.
このロープウェイは山頂まで行きます。
This ropeway goes to the mountaintop.
A more technical or formal term for a ropeway or cableway, often used in official names or engineering contexts.
この索道は貨物輸送に使われています。
This ropeway is used for freight transport.
An open chairlift, commonly used at ski resorts.
Refers specifically to a chairlift, often at ski resorts. Not used for enclosed gondolas.
スキー場でリフトに乗りました。
I rode the chairlift at the ski resort.
リフト券を買ってください。
Please buy a lift ticket.
A vehicle on rails pulled by a moving cable, like San Francisco cable cars.
Refers to a cable car on rails, often on steep slopes. Not an aerial lift.
京都のケーブルカーで山に登りました。
I went up the mountain by cable car in Kyoto.
A ropeway used for transporting materials, not passengers.
A technical term for a freight ropeway.
山奥の鉱山では貨物索道が使われている。
In the remote mine, a freight ropeway is used.
ロープウェイ is an aerial lift with enclosed cabins. リフト is an open chairlift (ski lift). ケーブルカー is a cable car on rails, like a tram pulled by a cable. Do not confuse them.
ロープウェイはゴンドラ、リフトは椅子、ケーブルカーは電車みたいなものです。
A ropeway is a gondola, a lift is a chair, and a cable car is like a train.