業種（ぎょうしゅ、giょushu）
- industry

The Japanese word 業種 (ぎょうしゅ) means "industry" or "type of business." It refers to a specific category or classification of businesses based on the products or services they provide. It's used to group companies that operate in similar fields, allowing for analysis and comparison.

⚫︎ あの会社はどのような業種ですか？ Translation: What industry is that company in? ⚫︎ 彼は様々な業種の企業を調査しました。 Translation: He researched companies in various industries. ⚫︎ この業種の将来性は高いと見られています。 Translation: The future prospects of this industry are considered high.

You use 業種 in business contexts, when discussing career paths, or when generally talking about different types of businesses. It's a common word used in both formal and informal situations. It helps clarify the type of business you're discussing. For example, when you want to specify whether a company is in the manufacturing, service, or financial industry.

業種 is typically written in kanji and hiragana. ・ Kanji: 業種 ・ Hiragana reading: ぎょうしゅ There are no other common ways to write this word, nor are there significant variations in the okurigana.

⚫︎ 産業 (さんぎょう): industry ⚫︎ 業界 (ぎょうかい): business world, industry ⚫︎ 業態 (ぎょうたい): business type, industry type

There aren't direct antonyms for 業種 as it's a classification term, but you could consider talking about businesses not belonging to a particular 業種.

彼の会社はIT業種に属しています。 ・Translation: His company belongs to the IT industry. ・Explanation: This sentence clearly indicates that his company is a technology-related business.

私は様々な業種の企業に興味があります。 ・Translation: I am interested in companies from various industries. ・Explanation: This sentence shows a broad interest in different kinds of businesses.

The word 業種 is a compound word. 業 (ぎょう) means "business," "work," or "industry," and 種 (しゅ) means "type," "kind," or "sort." Therefore, 業種 literally means "type of business" or "business type."