改革

• 読み: かいかく
• ローマ字: kaikaku
• 漢字の分解: 改 (kai) — change, renew, revise; 革 (kaku) — leather, reform, renew
• 発音: /kai.ka.kɯ/

意味

Reform; reformation; reorganization. Fundamental change to improve a system or institution.

A noun and suru-verb meaning to reform or fundamentally reorganize a system or structure. Stronger than 改善 (kaizen, improvement) — 改革 implies large-scale, structural change rather than incremental improvement. Extremely common in political and business contexts. Appears in historical terms like 明治維新の改革 and modern phrases like 構造改革 (kouzou kaikaku, structural reform).

例文

1. 政府は教育制度の改革に取り組んでいる。
2. 社長が就任してから、社内の改革が進んだ。
3. 税制改革について国会で激しい議論が行われた。

使い方ガイド

場面: politics, business, education

トーン: serious

起源と歴史

From Sino-Japanese: 改 (kai, change/renew) + 革 (kaku, leather/reform). The character 革 originally meant animal hide but extended to mean 'renew' or 'reform' through the idea of stripping away the old to reveal something new.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal