internal approval document; circulated proposal
A formal document circulated within a Japanese company or organization to obtain approval from relevant staff for a decision, policy, or expenditure. Common in traditional office settings.
Before starting a new project, we must circulate a ringisho and get approval.
It took a week to get all the necessary stamps on the ringisho.
Refers to the decision-making process itself, while 稟議書 is the physical or digital document used in that process.
General circulation of documents for information, not necessarily for approval. 稟議書 specifically seeks approval.
Standard kanji form for this business document.
Variant kanji form using 禀 instead of 稟; less common but recognized.
Compound of 稟議 (ringi, 'consultation-based decision-making') and 書 (sho, 'document'). The term reflects traditional Japanese corporate culture where proposals are circulated for consensus.