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改ざん (かいざん) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word Freq. Frequency Top 20,000 Conjugation Meanings 1
noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb
alteration ; falsification ; tampering
Refers to deliberately changing documents, data, or records in a dishonest way, often with legal or official implications. Strongly negative connotation.
改かい
ざん
する
行こう
為い
は
犯はん
罪ざい
です
。
Tampering with data is a crime.
Written forms 改かい ざん Usage 71%
Standard modern spelling using ざん in place of the non-jōyō kanji 竄.
改かい 竄ざん Usage 29%
Original kanji form; still seen but less common than 改ざん due to 竄 being non-jōyō.
Kanji 改 reformation, change, modify Similar words 偽ぎ 造ぞう 偽造 means forgery or counterfeiting, typically creating a fake item from scratch (e.g., money, documents). 改ざん focuses on altering existing genuine records or data.
変へん 造ぞう 変造 also means altering something, but is often used for physical objects like currency or official seals, whereas 改ざん is more common for digital data, documents, and records.
Etymology Compound of 改 (kai, 'change') and 竄 (zan, 'alter' or 'falsify'). The kanji 竄 is non-jōyō, so the word is now commonly written as 改ざん.
