電車

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 毎朝、電車で通勤しています。▶ —
   I commute by train every morning.
2. 満員電車は本当に疲れる。▶ —
   A packed train is truly exhausting.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Densha (電車) is the Sino-Japanese "electric train" — 電 (electricity) + 車 (vehicle) = "electric vehicle." Another Meiji-era wasei-kango (like hikouki). The backbone of Japanese urban transit — Tokyo, Osaka, and other large cities run JR (Japan Railways), shitetsu (private railways), and chikatetsu (subway) networks. Compare: kisha (steam train, archaic), shinkansen (bullet train), ressha (formal / written "train"). Social code man'in densha (packed train) is a commute-hell metaphor — central to urban Japanese labor culture. Densha-nai manaa (in-train etiquette): silent phones, no calls, give up seats.

Quick check

1. Japanese for "bullet train"?

   • Shinkansen
   • Densha — regular train
   • Kisha — steam train (archaic)
   • Chikatetsu — subway