i just came upon 興業「こうぎよう」with definition given as “industrial enterprise”. I
can’t determine the difference with 工業 (same pronunciation and also meaning
industry) but don’t think they’re variant writings of the same word. can
someone explain any nuance to me ?
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2020-12-15T10:34:52.470
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question
word-choice
興業{こうぎょう｝ (kougyou) vs. 工業{こうぎょう｝ (kougyou)
In fact, the EDICT definition seems to be somewhat misleading here; I’ve
submitted a proposal for correction. Here are several related homonyms with
the same reading こうぎょう:

興業 promotion/encouragement of (new) industry (especially in
[殖産興業](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AE%96%E7%94%A3%E8%88%88%E6%A5%AD) -
Meiji era policy for promoting industrialization)

鉱業 mining industry

工業 industry, industrial

興行 show, performance, entertainment business.

It may help to check the meanings of individual kanji, for example:

興{おこ}る prosper, flourish

興{おこ}す promote, advance, revitalize

工{たくみ} artisan, craftsman

業{ぎょう} occupation, business, work

行{おこな}う perform, carry out
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2020-12-15T13:03:07.513
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answer
They are very different words except for pronunciation (which is also
different in accent as pointed in a comment above).

興業 derives from an old slogan
[殖産興業](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%AE%96%E7%94%A3%E8%88%88%E6%A5%AD-80130)
(lit. "advance production, raise business") and means "launching new
business", or in today's word, _venture business_. I guess the English word
_enterprise_ had a similar connotation, while it mostly refers to steadier
corporation nowadays. It may be a biased opinion, but being a vague and good-
sounding word, many yakuza front companies tend to use it in their trade
names.

On the other hand, 工業 usually translates "industry", but more strictly,
"manufacturing industry" ([the secondary
sector](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_sector_of_the_economy)) that
builds physical objects. For example, creating software isn't 工業. For a
general sense "a sector of business" we use another word 産業 (e.g. 映画産業 "film
industry").
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answer