代返

• Reading: だいへん
• Romaji: daihen
• Kanji breakdown: 代 (substitute) + 返 (reply, shortened from 返事) → substitute response / proxy attendance
• Pronunciation: /da.i.heɴ/

Meaning

Having a friend answer roll call or submit an attendance card on your behalf — a classic act of proxy attendance at Japanese universities.

代返 is a time-honoured tradition of university truancy where a classmate responds to your name during attendance or submits your attendance card while you skip class. While technically against university rules and potentially grounds for disciplinary action, it remains widely practised. With the shift to digital IC card systems and smartphone-based attendance, traditional 代返 has become harder, spawning new creative workarounds.

Examples

1. 今日体調悪いから代返お願いしていい？ I'm not feeling well today — can you cover attendance for me?
2. 代返がバレて二人とも欠席扱いにされた。 Our proxy attendance got caught and we both got marked absent.
3. あいつは週3で代返してもらってるのに単位取れてるの謎。 It's a mystery how that guy gets credits when he has someone cover attendance for him three days a week.

Usage Guide

Context: university, friends, student life

Tone: conspiratorial, casual

Do Say

• 明日の1限、代返頼んでいい？ (Can I ask you to cover attendance for me in first period tomorrow?)
• 代返バレたらやばいからちゃんと出な。 (If proxy attendance gets caught you're in trouble, so actually show up.)

Don't Say

• 先生に「代返してました」と正直に言う (Don't honestly tell your professor you've been using proxy attendance)

Common Mistakes

• Confusing 代返 with 代筆 (ghostwriting) — 代返 specifically refers to attendance fraud, not writing assignments for someone

Origin & History

A compound of 代 (substitute) and 返事 (reply/response), shortened to 返. Has existed as long as Japanese universities have taken attendance, dating back to at least the postwar era.

Cultural Context

Era: Postwar university culture, ongoing but declining with digital systems

Generation: University students

Social background: Universal among Japanese university students

Regional notes: Used across all of Japan. Increasingly difficult at universities that use IC card or smartphone-based attendance systems.