隠蔽

• Reading: いんぺい
• Romaji: inpei
• Kanji breakdown: 隠 (in/kaku) — hide, conceal; 蔽 (pei/hei) — cover, obstruct, shade
• Pronunciation: /im.peː/

Meaning

Cover-up; concealment; suppression. The deliberate hiding or obscuring of information, evidence, or wrongdoing.

A compound of 隠 (conceal/hide) and 蔽 (cover/obstruct). Carries strong negative connotations, implying intentional and often unethical acts of hiding the truth, particularly by those in positions of power. Frequently appears in political and corporate scandal reporting. 隠蔽工作 (cover-up operations) and 組織的隠蔽 (systemic concealment) are common collocations.

Examples

1. 企業の幹部が事故の実態を隠蔽しようとしたが、内部告発によって発覚した。 Company executives attempted to conceal the true facts of the accident, but it was exposed by a whistleblower.
2. 組織的な隠蔽が長年続いていたことが判明し、社会に大きな衝撃を与えた。 It came to light that a systematic cover-up had been ongoing for many years, sending a wave of shock through society.
3. 政府の隠蔽体質を批判する声が高まり、情報公開を求める市民運動が広がった。 Voices criticising the government's tendency towards concealment grew louder, and a civic movement demanding freedom of information spread.

Usage Guide

Context: politics, journalism, law, society, corporate affairs

Tone: critical

Origin & History

隠 (in, to hide/conceal) + 蔽 (pei/hei, to cover/obstruct). Both characters carry the sense of blocking from view. Used in Chinese and Japanese literary and legal texts for centuries to denote deliberate concealment.

Cultural Context

Era: Classical–Contemporary

Generation: Adults

Social background: General