Translation guide
Describes land not used for farming or gardening, often wild or abandoned. Japanese expressions vary by nuance: natural wilderness, neglected fields, or undeveloped areas.
Land in its natural state, never cultivated or developed.
Refers to wilderness, wasteland, or uncultivated open land. Often implies a barren or desolate natural area.
その荒野には何も生えていない。
Nothing grows on that uncultivated land.
Wild fields or undeveloped plains. More neutral than 荒野, can refer to open uncultivated land.
原野を開拓して農地に変えた。
They cleared the uncultivated land and turned it into farmland.
Undeveloped or uncivilized land. Often used in historical or geographical contexts.
その島には未開地が広がっている。
Uncultivated land stretches across the island.
Land that was once cultivated but is now left unused, overgrown, or fallow.
Wasteland or barren land, often previously cultivated but now neglected. Common for abandoned fields.
その荒れ地はかつて田んぼだった。
That uncultivated land used to be a rice paddy.
Fallow land, temporarily left uncultivated to restore fertility. Not permanently abandoned.
Empty lots or unused land within or near developed areas, not used for agriculture.
Vacant lot or empty land, often in residential areas. Not necessarily wild, just unused.
子供たちは空き地で遊んでいる。
The children are playing on the uncultivated land.
Unused land, often in planning or real estate contexts. Neutral term.
その未利用地は駐車場になる予定だ。
The uncultivated land is scheduled to become a parking lot.
荒れ地 implies land that was once used but is now neglected, while 荒野 suggests natural wilderness that may never have been cultivated.
Avoid directly translating 'uncultivated land' as 未耕作地 (みこうさくち). While technically correct, it is rarely used in natural Japanese.
Specifically refers to abandoned farmland. A formal term used in agricultural policy.
耕作放棄地が増えている。
Abandoned farmland is increasing.
今年は休耕地にして土を休ませる。
This year we'll leave the land uncultivated to let the soil rest.