your business; your concern; your need
Honorific term used when asking about or referring to someone's business, errand, or reason for visiting. Often used in service contexts.
本日のご用は何でしょうか。
What can I do for you today? (lit. What is your business today?)
The clerk asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"
お客様のご用を承ります。
I will attend to your needs, sir/madam.
your order; customer's order
Honorific term for a customer's order, request, or commission. Common in shops and restaurants.
ご用の品をお持ちいたしました。
I have brought the item you ordered.
ご用をどうぞ。
Please tell me your order.
official business; government business; Imperial Court business
Refers to official duties or affairs of the government, Imperial Court, or other authorities. Not honorific in this sense.
役人が御用で地方へ出張した。
The official went on a business trip to the countryside on government business.
宮中の御用を務める。
To serve in the Imperial Court's official business.
Historical or euphemistic term for arrest by authorities, especially in the Edo period. Now mostly seen in period dramas or set phrases like 御用だ.
「御用だ、御用だ！」と捕り方が叫んだ。
"You are under arrest!" shouted the constables.
時代劇ではよく「御用」という言葉が出てくる。
The word 御用 often appears in period dramas.
noun-modifying (irregular)
pro-government; subservient to authority
Prenominal modifier used for media or organizations that are seen as subservient to the government or authority. Often pejorative.
See also: 御用新聞
その新聞は御用新聞だと批判された。
That newspaper was criticized as a government mouthpiece.
御用学者の意見ばかりが取り上げられる。
Only the opinions of pro-government scholars are picked up.
The clerk took the customer's order.
He traveled to Kyoto on official business.
The officer chased after him shouting, "You're under arrest!"
逮捕 is the standard modern word for arrest, whereas 御用 is an old-fashioned or dramatic term for the same act, mainly heard in period dramas.
官製 neutrally describes something organized or run by the government, while 御用 as a modifier carries a pejorative nuance suggesting servility to authority.
注文 is the standard, neutral word for a customer's order, while 御用 is the honorific version used especially by shop and restaurant staff when referring to what a customer wants.
用事 is the neutral, everyday word for an errand or thing to do, while 御用 is the honorific term used when politely asking about or referring to someone's business.
御用 means 'official business' or 'an order from a superior,' while 御用達 refers specifically to the supplier who fulfills such orders, so the two share kanji but differ in meaning and part of speech.
purveyor to the Imperial Household; official supplier · popular with a specific clientele; favorite of; go-to for
imperial villa
sword tester (Edo period); executioner
purveyor to the government or Imperial Household
first business day of the new year; reopening of offices after New Year's holiday
Standard kanji spelling; the 御 is read ご, not お.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the honorific business/order senses.
Compound of honorific prefix 御 (ご) and 用 (よう, 'business, use'). The specific senses developed from the basic meaning of 'honorable business'.
company union; yellow union
extremely busy with many matters
door-to-door rounds of tradesmen · door-to-door tradesman; order taker · thief taker; secret policeman (historical)
shogun's council chamber; Edo castle governmental affairs room