改善

• 読み: かいぜん
• ローマ字: kaizen
• 漢字の分解: 改 (kai) — reform, renew; 善 (zen) — good, virtue
• 発音: /ka.i.zeɴ/

意味

Betterment; improvement; reform. Making something better than its current state.

A noun that also functions as a suru verb (改善する). Famous worldwide as the Japanese management philosophy 'kaizen' — continuous incremental improvement. Used broadly: 生活を改善する (improve one's lifestyle), 関係を改善する (improve a relationship), 改善点 (points for improvement). Both transitive (問題を改善する) and intransitive (状況が改善した) uses are common.

例文

1. 生活習慣を改善しようと決めた。
2. サービスの改善に取り組んでいます。
3. 経済状況がようやく改善してきた。

使い方ガイド

場面: business, self-improvement, management

トーン: constructive

起源と歴史

Compound of 改 (kai, to reform/renew) and 善 (zen, good/virtue). 'Reforming toward good' — deliberately making changes to reach a better state. The concept of kaizen became globally known through Toyota's manufacturing philosophy.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal