Distinguishing different words for damage in Japanese

Published on Friday, June 5, 2026

4 comments

Hey, im trying to wrap my head around how Japanese splits up "damage" words. Like, there is one for physical wear on a machine, another for structural ruin, and another when a business loses money. I get the basic physical vs abstract split but how do you handle metaphors like "damaged reputation" or a "damaged system" without sounding too clinical? Any tips?

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