Art in Japanese: geijutsu or bijutsu, explained based on the kanji

How to say “art” in Japanese

Honestly, Japanese native speakers quite often say “āto” which originally came from the pronunciation of “art”. So, they often use the word imported from the English language. In this blog post, however, I will focus on words in the Japanese language. We have two major ways to say “art” in Japanese: “geijutsu” and “bijutsu”. I will explain these two words in detail based on their kanji expressions. And also I will explain their difference. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “geijutsu”
• Kanji of “geijutsu”
• Definition and meaning of “bijutsu”
• Kanji of “bijutsu”
• Example #1: how to say “art” in Japanese
• Example #2: how to use “bijutsu”
• Example #3: how to say “artist” in Japanese
• Summary: geijutsu vs bijutsu

Definition and meaning of “geijutsu”

First of all, let me start with the definition and meaning of “geijutsu”.

• geijutsu – 芸術 (げいじゅつ) : a noun meaning ‘art’ in Japanese. Normally, it is used to mean art in general.

Its definition and meaning are quite simple and clear, I think. To understand this word a bit more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

Kanji of “geijutsu”

Below are the kanji characters used in the word, “geijutsu”.

• 芸 : a kanji character often used to mean ‘art’, ‘performance’, or ‘acting’ in Japanese.
• 術 : a kanji character used to mean ‘technique’, ‘art’, ‘means’, ‘trick’, or perhaps ‘magic’ in Japanese.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “geijutsu” consists of the two similar kanji, both of which mean ‘art’ or express art related things. So, its meaning is in line with what its kanji express.

When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “geijutsu” through the detailed kanji check above.

Then, let me explain the other one, “bijutsu”, in detail.

Definition and meaning of “bijutsu”

Below are the definition and meaning of “bijutsu”.

• bijutsu – 美術 (びじゅつ) : a noun meaning ‘art’ in Japanese. This word is widely considered as a more specific word for paintings and sculptures which give us more visual impressions.

This word can also be used to mean art in Japanese. But normally, Japanese people use it to mean paintings, sculptures, and things which give us visual impressions. So, it cannot be used to mean works of art which we cannot see, like poems, songs, and so on.

To understand this word a bit more clearly, let me explain its kanji characters in detail.

Kanji of “bijutsu”

Below are the kanji characters used in the word, “bijutsu”.

• 美 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘beautiful’. It can also be used in the adjective, “utsukushii“, which means ‘beautiful’ in Japanese.
• 術 : the same as explained above.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “bijutsu” is a word for beautiful works of art. Therefore, this is considered as a more specific word for things we can enjoy visually.

In the rest part of this blog post, I will explain how to use these two words through example sentences.

Example #1: how to say “art” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• gakkou – 学校 (がっこう) : a noun meaning ‘school’ in Japanese. Learn more about “gakkou“.
• de – で : a case particle put after a noun to indicate a particular place where southing happens. Its role is quite similar to that of the English preposition “at” or perhaps “in”. In the example, it is put after the noun, “gakkou”, to indicate the particular place where “watashi” studied art. The phrase, “gakkou de”, has been translated into English as “in school”.
• manabi – 学び (まなび) : one conjugation of the verb, “manabu”, which means ‘to study’ or ‘to learn’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for a better connection with its following word.
• mashi – まし : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “masu”, which is put after a verb to make it polite. In the example, it is put after the conjugated verb, “manabi”, to make it sound polite.
• ta – た : an auxiliary verb put after a verb, adjective, auxiliary verb, or phrase to make its past tense. Probably, it is well known for a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, it is put after the verb phrase, “manabi mashi”, to make its past tense, “manabi mashi ta”.

This is a typical usage of “geijutsu”. It can mean art in general in Japanese, so we cannot see what kind of art “watashi” studied in school from the example sentence. Let me paraphrase this example with “bijutsu” as follows.

Example #2: how to use “bijutsu”

“Geijutsu” has been replaced by “bijutsu”. Due to this change, now we can understand that “watashi” studied the art which gives us visual impressions. These two words are quite similar and can be used to mean ‘art’, but not really the same. Japanese native speakers use these two words properly in most cases. We need to be careful with this fact.

Example #3: how to say “artist” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : the same as explained in the first example. In this example, it is put after the pronoun, “kare”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• geijutsuka – 芸術家 (げいじゅつか) : a noun meaning ‘artist’ in Japanese. It can also be used as a plural noun meaning ‘artists’. Learn more about Japanese plural.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, it is well known for a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, it is put after the noun, “geijutsuka”, to make it sound polite.

This example shows how to say “artist” in Japanese. We can use “geijutsuka”. This noun consists of the two parts: “geijutsu” and “ka”. The first one has already been explained. The second one, “ka”, is often used as a suffix to mean a person who specializes in the field described by the preceding noun. So, in this case, it can work to mean a person who specializes in art. This suffix can also be used after the noun, “bijutsu”. When we know someone who specializes in painting or sculpture, we can call him/her “bijutsuka”. This noun also means ‘artist’ in Japanese, but due to the meaning of “bijutsu”, its meaning is a bit limited.

Summary: geijutsu vs bijutsu

In this blog post, I’ve explained the two major ways to say “artist” in Japanese. And also, I’ve explained their difference. Let me summarize them as follows.

• geijutsu – 芸術 (げいじゅつ) : a noun meaning ‘art’ in Japanese. Normally, it is used to mean art in general.
• bijutsu – 美術 (びじゅつ) : a noun meaning ‘art’ in Japanese. This word is widely considered as a more specific word for paintings, sculptures, works of art which give us more visual impressions. Compared to “geijutsu”, its meaning is a bit limited.
• geijutsuka – 芸術家 (げいじゅつか) : a noun meaning ‘artist’ in Japanese. It can be used to mean ‘artist’ in general.
• bijutsuka – 美術家 (びじゅつか) : a noun meaning ‘artist’ in Japanese. But due to the meaning of “bijutsu”, it tends to mean an artist who specializes in painting, sculpture, or something which gives us more visual impressions.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.