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In American English "construction worker" can refer to any manual labor worker
at a construction site. Is 土方{どかた} a common term to refer to such person in
Japan?
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2017-05-14T22:58:55.660
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terminology
Is 土方 a common term for a "construction worker"?
[土方{どかた}](http://jisho.org/word/%E5%9C%9F%E6%96%B9) seems to be [the most
_searched_
term](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=JP&q=%E5%9C%9F%E6%96%B9%20%E7%B5%A6%E6%96%99,%E5%9C%9F%E6%9C%A8%E4%BD%9C%E6%A5%AD%E5%93%A1%20%E7%B5%A6%E6%96%99,%E5%BB%BA%E7%AF%89%E4%BD%9C%E6%A5%AD%E5%93%A1%20%E7%B5%A6%E6%96%99,%E5%BB%BA%E8%A8%AD%E5%8A%B4%E5%83%8D%E8%80%85%20%E7%B5%A6%E6%96%99,%E5%9C%9F%E5%B7%A5%20%E7%B5%A6%E6%96%99)
used when finding out how much construction workers get paid for their job
(out of the alternative terms that I found). There is also the family name
土方{ひじかた}. It can affect the search frequency a bit, but you rarely search a
family name together with [給料](http://jisho.org/word/%E7%B5%A6%E6%96%99).

The terms 土方{どかた} and [土工](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%9F%E5%B7%A5)
are [sensitive](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36225/what-does-
sensitive-or-sens-mean) when used to refer to a person, and you shouldn't use
them in official contexts. Anyway, considering that people commonly use 土方 to
find out the average pay of construction workers, it must be very common.

More neutral alternative words are
[建設労働者](http://jisho.org/word/%E5%BB%BA%E8%A8%AD%E5%8A%B4%E5%83%8D%E8%80%85),
[土木作業員](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%9F%E5%B7%A5) and
[建築作業員](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%9F%E5%B7%A5). There are also more
precise words for the exact job, but according to
[this](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1451026279),
土木作業員 is used as a general word for all kinds of construction workers.

Screenshot of the Google Trends query used as a source:

[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jrVyZ.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jrVyZ.png)
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> Is 土方 a common term to refer to such person in Japan?

Yes. And there are also self-deprecating words like IT土方....
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2017-05-14T23:20:09.870
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土方 is a common word, but if you want a neutral term that is usable in news
articles, essays and such, (建築/土木)作業員 is better.

土方 tends to have a negative/derogatory undertone, and we never see it used in
government documents and such. Basically I always refrain from referring to
someone as 土方. Some broadcasting companies even have explicitly prohibited it
as a discriminatory word.

> [日本語俗語辞書](http://zokugo-dict.com/20to/dokata.htm)  
>
> 土方とは道路工事や治水工事、建築における土木作業員のことである。ただし、土方は差別意識を伴って使われることが多く、土木作業員の中でも特に資格や技術を必要としない部署で働く人や日雇い労働者をイメージして使われることが多い。

Related: [In what type of social settings could one say
"百姓{ひゃくしょう}"?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24660/5010)
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