Jouzu is a Japanese word for ‘good (at something)’, explained

What does “jouzu” mean in Japanese?

Native speakers use jouzu normally to mean ‘good (at something)’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese conversations. In this blog post, however, I’m explaining this word in detail based on its kanji expression and history. And also, I’m explaining how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners understand jouzu more clearly. Then, let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meanings of “jouzu”
• Jouzu in kanji
• Why can “jouzu” mean ‘good (at something)’ in Japanese?
  • How to say “good at” in Japanese
  • Another example of “jouzu”
• Summary

Definition and meanings of “jouzu”

Let me start with the definition and meanings of jouzu.

• jouzu – 上手 (じょうず) : a noun, but normally used as an adjective to mean ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese.

In Japanese, the border between nouns and some adjectives called na-adjectives is very ambiguous. Many na-adjectives consist of a noun and a conjugative suffix, but native speakers quite often omit the suffix especially in speaking. Many Japanese nouns can therefore be the shortened versions of the corresponding na-adjectives. Jouzu is one of them. It can work as the shortened version of jouzuna which is a na-adjective for ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese.

Compared to the grammatical background, the meanings are simple and clear. To understand this word more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

Jouzu in kanji

The kanji expression of jouzu consists of the following two kanji characters:

• 上 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘top’, ‘upper’, ‘above’, ‘beyond’, or ‘over’ in Japanese.
• 手 : a kanji character widely used to mean a ‘hand’ in Japanese.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that the formed word literally means ‘the top of a hand’ in Japanese. Unfortunately, this literal interpretation is not in line with the actual meanings. Sometimes, this kind of mismatch can happen. Naturally the question arises: why can this kanji expression mean ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese? To answer this question, let me explain some history.

Why can “jouzu” mean ‘good (at something)’ in Japanese?

To understand why jouzu can mean ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese, we need to know some history behind. This word originally came from its heteronym, kamite, which is strongly related to the Japanese theater culture.

• kamite – 上手 (かみて) : a noun used to mean a ‘stage left’ in Japanese.

Interestingly, it was said that actors on the stage left (the right side from the audience) tended to play better than those who were on the stage right. In other words, actors on kamite tended to play better. This tendency stretched the usage of the noun, kamite, wider. People started to use it to mean ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese. And its pronunciation has changed as times changed. Today, kamite only means a ‘stage left’ and jouzu means ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese.

So far, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of jouzu together with its kanji expression and history. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentences below.

How to say “good at” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after kanojo to make the subject in the sentence.
• ryouri – 料理 (りょうり) : a noun meaning ‘cooking’ in Japanese.
• ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after ryouri to make the object in the sentence.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of the Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after jouzu to make it sound polite.

This is a typical usage of jouzu. In this example, it works to mean ‘good at’ in Japanese. When we want to mean ‘good (at something)’ in Japanese, this word is a very good option.

Another example of “jouzu”

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• imouto – 妹 (いもうと) : a noun meaning a ‘little sister’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• yori – より : a case particle working as a comparison marker. In the example, this is used after watashi to provide the target of the comparison with imouto. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is similar to that of than in English.
• tenisu – テニス (てにす) : a noun meaning ‘tennis’ in Japanese. This is an imported word which originally came from the pronunciation of tennis.

This is another example of jouzu. In this example, it works together with the case particle, yori, to mean ‘better at’ in Japanese.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of jouzu in detail based on its kanji expression and history. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• jouzu – 上手 (じょうず) : a noun, but normally used as an adjective to mean ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘the top of a hand’ in Japanese. This word originally came from its heteronym, kamite.
• kamite – 上手 (かみて) : a noun used to mean a ‘stage left’ in Japanese. Actors on the stage left tended to play better than those who were on the stage right. So, people in the past started to use this word as an adjective to mean ‘good (at something)’ or ‘skillful’ in Japanese.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.