Translation guide
The English word "fields" can refer to agricultural land, academic disciplines, areas of activity, or visual backgrounds. This guide covers the most common Japanese equivalents for each meaning.
Open land used for growing crops or grazing animals, often with a specific crop.
General word for cultivated fields, especially dry fields for vegetables, wheat, etc. (not flooded rice paddies).
彼は畑で野菜を育てている。
He grows vegetables in the fields.
Specifically a flooded rice paddy. Use this for rice fields.
田んぼに水を引く。
They irrigate the rice fields.
Open field or meadow, often uncultivated or wild. Conveys a natural, grassy area.
子供たちが野原で遊んでいる。
The children are playing in the fields.
Variant kanji for 畑, sometimes used in proper nouns or older texts. Same reading and meaning.
この地域には古い畠が残っている。
Old fields remain in this area.
A particular branch of study or sphere of activity.
The most common word for an academic field, area of expertise, or domain of activity.
彼は医学の分野で有名だ。
He is famous in the field of medicine.
新しい研究分野が生まれた。
A new field of research has emerged.
Often used for a specialized area or territory of knowledge, slightly more formal than 分野.
Means 'specialty' or 'major'. Used to say 'my field' in a personal context.
A domain of practical work, business, or social action.
Literally 'the actual place', used for 'in the field' as opposed to office or theory (e.g., fieldwork, on-site).
現場の声を聞くことが大切だ。
It's important to listen to voices from the field.
Practical or hands-on, often used in compounds like 実地調査 (field survey).
A background area in a picture, flag, or a space in a document/form.
Background of an image or scene. For a flag, use 地 (じ).
旗の赤い地に白い星がある。
The flag has a white star on a red field.
A blank space or box in a form to fill in.
名前の欄に記入してください。
Please fill in the name field.
A playing field for sports like soccer, baseball, etc.
Loanword from English 'ground', used for sports fields.
選手たちがグラウンドに出た。
The players went out onto the field.
Also a loanword, used for field in sports or computing contexts.
畑 (hatake) is for dry fields (vegetables, wheat), while 田んぼ (tanbo) is specifically for flooded rice paddies. Do not use 畑 for rice fields.
日本の田んぼは美しい。
Japan's rice fields are beautiful.
Do not use 畑 or 野原 for academic fields. Use 分野 or 領域. Saying 医学の畑 is incorrect; say 医学の分野.
それは私の専門領域外です。
That is outside my field of expertise.
私の専門は経済学です。
My field is economics.
Conduct field research.
フィールド競技
field events (in track and field)