働く

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 父は銀行で働いています。▶ —
   My father works at a bank.
2. 若いうちにたくさん働きたい。▶ —
   I want to work hard while young.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Hataraku (働く) is godan — "to work / labor." The kanji 働 is a kokuji (国字), a Japanese-coined character: 亻 (person) + 動 (move) = "person moves = labor." Absent in Chinese. Cluster: shigoto (job / work, conversational), roudou (labor, Sino-Japanese formal), kinmu (duty, business). The "hatarakikata kaikaku" (work-style reform) policy is a 21st-century Japanese keyword — work-hour caps, telework. Dark side: karou (overwork), karoushi (death from overwork). Korean "ilhada / geun-mu-hada / nodong-hada" parallels plus Japan's "hatarakikata" social vocab adds an extra layer.

Quick check

1. Linguistic feature of the kanji 働?

   • Kokuji — a Japan-coined character, absent in Chinese
   • On / kun readings identical
   • Used only in Korea
   • Simplified-Chinese form