List of Japanese English expressions connected to architecture (designed for English speakers)

air con (ea kon, short for air conditioner) – a machine that both cools and heats air, so different from a “cooler”

alumi (arumi) – short for aluminium

apart (apaato, short for apartment) – wooden two story block of flats, as opposed to a “mansion”

baby bed (beibi beddo) – cot

barracks (barakku) – decrepit buildings

bed town (beddo taun) – commuter town

blind (buraindo) – shutters

buil (biru – short for building) – office building (not buildings more generally, which is tatemono)

bungalow (bangaroo) – cabin

centi (senchi) – short for centimetre

cloak (kurooku) – cloakroom, not a cape

cock (kokku) – tap for water or gas

concours (konkooru- from French) – competition

consent (konsento) – electric socket, never used with the meaning of giving consent

cooler (kuura) – an air conditioner that only cools the air and doesn’t heat, so different from “air con”

corner (koona) – section of shop or magazine, as in “cash corner” (place with ATMs)

culture centre (karucha sentaa) – cultural centre, e.g. local place for adult education

depart (depaato) – short for department store, and the full expression is never used. Not used for departments of a company.

dining kitchen (dainingu kitchin) – a combined kitchen and dining room (usually a sign of a small flat rather than of modern open plan design)

driveway (doraibuuei) – highway/ speedway

dump car (dampu kaa) – dump truck

dust box (dasuto bokkusu) – trash can/ bin

echo (eko) – the acoustics of a space flooring (furooringu) – wooden flooring

foundation (faundeishon) – make up only, not building etc.

front (furonto) –hotel reception/ front desk

game centre (geimu sentaa) – amusement arcade/ video arcade

gird (gaado) – girder bridge

gom (gomu, from Dutch) – rubber and rubber band

health centre (herusu sentaa) – recreation centre, rather than a clinic

Hello Work (hero waaku) – the official and most commonly used name for government job centres

interphone (intaahon) – intercom

kilo (kiiro) – short for both kilometre and kilogramme

kiosk (kiyosuku) – kiosk/ station shop (i.e. also something you can walk into)

knob (nobu) – any kind of door handle, not just a circular one

konbinat (konbinaato – from Russian) – industrial complex

kraan (karan – from Dutch) – tap

lift (rifuto) – only for cargo, giving elevator (for passengers) and lift two different meanings in Japanese

live house (raibu hausu) – a kind of live music venue

living (ribingu) – short for living room

living kitchen (ribingu kitchin) – open plan living room/ kitchen

log house (rogu hausu) – log cabin

mansion – a slightly higher class of concrete apartment block, so not a large house

milli (miri) – short for both millimetre and milligrams

office buil (ofisu biru) – office building, often shortened to ‘biru’, as this only refers to office buildings in Japanese (the Japanese word tatemono being more general)

one room mansion (wan ruumu manshon) – studio apartment (manshon being an apartment building)

pension (penshon) – a Western-style minshuku, meaning basically a B&B

reception (resepushon) – formal dinner, not desk you see when you enter (that’s “uketsuke” for offices and “front” for hotels)

reform

reform (rifoomu) – alteration or repair, e.g. of building or clothes

renewal (rinyuuaru) – store renovations

ropeway – cable car (in Japanese “cable car” is only used for one that runs on rails)

scramble (sukuaramburu) – a crossing where pedestrians can cross from all sides of a crossroads at the same time, like the famous one outside Shibuya station

sharp pen (shaa pen, short for sharp pencil) – mechanical pencil/ automatic pencil

skate rink (sukeeto rinku) – skating rink

skyline (sukairain) – scenic mountain highway

sofa (sofaa) – sofa and armchair

stove (sutoobu) – (gas, oil or electric) heater/ fire, so not connected to cooking

suite room (suito rummu) – a hotel suite

super (suupa) – short for supermarket (the longer form exists but is rarely used) tenant (tenant) – for rent (often seen on signs in windows)

terrace (terasu) – terrace/ balcony, i.e. often smaller than a terrace would be in English

toile (toire) – toilet (note the missing t sound)

trailer house (toreeraa hausu) – trailer/ mobile home

trunk room (toranku ruumu) – storage room, e.g. a place where you pay to put things into storage

unit bath (yunitto basu) – modular bathroom/ prefabricated all in one bathroom

veranda (beranda) – usually more like a balcony

washlet (uoshuretto, from wash + toilet) – combined toilet and bidet

Grammar revision