歌手（かしゅ、kashu）
- singer

The Japanese word 歌手 かしゅ (kashu) means "singer." It refers to a person who sings, typically professionally. This includes vocalists who perform in various genres of music, such as pop, rock, classical, jazz, and enka (a traditional Japanese music genre). 歌手 can also encompass those who write and perform their own songs (singer-songwriters).

⚫︎あの歌手はとても人気があります。 Translation: That singer is very popular. ⚫︎彼女はオペラ歌手として世界的に活躍しています。 Translation: She is active globally as an opera singer. ⚫︎最近、新しい歌手グループがデビューしました。 Translation: A new singer group debuted recently.

You use 歌手 when you want to refer to someone who sings, regardless of the music genre. It's a general term. You can use it in various contexts, such as describing a person's profession, discussing musical performances, or referring to individuals in the music industry.

歌手 is written using the kanji 歌手, with the reading かしゅ in hiragana. There are no other common ways to write this word. The okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is standard.

⚫︎ シンガー (shingaa): A loanword from English, also meaning "singer," used particularly in modern music contexts. ⚫︎ ボーカリスト (bo-karisuto): Another loanword, from English "vocalist." It often refers to the vocalist in a band.

⚫︎ There isn't a direct antonym for 歌手. The opposite concept would depend on the context. If referring to musical performance, it might be someone who does not sing.

彼女は有名なJ-POPの歌手］です。 ・Translation: She is a famous J-POP singer. ・Explanation: This sentence introduces a famous singer who performs in the J-POP genre.

その歌手の歌声はとても心に響きました。》 ・Translation: That singer's voice resonated deeply in my heart. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the emotional impact of a singer's performance.

The word 歌手 is a compound word. The kanji 歌 (ka) means "song" or "singing," and the kanji 手 (shu) means "person" or "expert." Therefore, 歌手 literally translates to "song person" or "person of singing," effectively describing a singer.