I've been stuck trying to find the correct usage of 従業員 (juugyouin), 職人
(shokunin) and 実業家 (jitsugyouka). All of these can mean worker/businessman. I
figured that 実業家 is probably referring to a worker/businessman related to the
industrial industry. But what if you're a businessman outside of industry? The
problem is, I can't use these words correctly in sentences until I know how
the Japanese think about these words when they use them, and for which type of
worker/businessman they use them for. So if someone can tell me when they
would use them in which scenario, I'd appreciate it!
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2021-07-11T11:37:10.273
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2021-07-11T13:48:25.610
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question
meaning
Should we use juugyouin (従業員), shokunin (職人), or jitsugyouka (実業家) when talking about employees?
"Employee" is 従業員 in Japanese. 被雇用者 is also used in strict legal contexts.

The other two are very different.

  * 職人: artisan; craftsman
  * 実業家: entrepreneur; business owner/executive; business person (who has a high position in a company)
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2021-07-11T13:47:42.093
87434
2021-07-11T13:47:42.093
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answer
'従業員' should suffice for 'employee', as far as I can think of.

  * 職人 means craftsmen or skilled workers, those who actually make things (furniture, houses, instruments etc)
  * 実業家 cannot be an employee. The word means those who own business, so chances are that s/he is an employer. (Of course, one can be employed somewhere and starts some business on their own, but s/he will not be called a 実業家 as a member of the company where s/he is employed)

An example of ambiguous case is a person employed in some factory. They can be
職人 and 従業員 at the same time. How to call them simply depends on which aspect
of them you have in mind. The worker is a 従業員 if you think of him as a member
of the company; he is a 職人 if the particular skills matter. In general 従業員 is
more neutral and safer in this case, I think.
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2021-07-11T13:48:25.610
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2021-07-11T13:48:25.610
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answer