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I am reading Toki wo Kakeru Shojo and those three words are refered in the
text quite as synonyms. Also my dictionary translates them all as
'laboratory'.

It seems that they are used at different levels and are made for different
purposes. Then in order not to have a vague meaning in mind, I would like to
know the differences of those three words.
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2014-09-03T20:09:39.540
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words
What is the difference between 実験室, 研究室 and 実習室?
With these kinds of words, it often helps to look instead at the relative
different constituents:

実験： empiric test, (scientific) experiment  
研究： (academic) research/study  
実習： practical training

Then when you tack 室 to the end, it just makes a room where the respective
activities take place:

実験室： room where you perform (scientific) experiments (a.k.a. laboratory)  
研究室： room where you perform (academic) study and research (a.k.a. laboratory)  
実習室: room where you perform practical training (i.e. physics lab for a physics
class)
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2014-09-03T20:22:20.967
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I work at a university in Japan, worked at a different one previously, and was
a visiting scholar for a year and a half at another one.

[実験室]{じっけんしつ} = a real laboratory -- as the term would be used in English.
This is where you would conduct actual experiments in the natural sciences.

[研究室]{けんきゅうしつ} = either a professor's office or a room that students use to
read books, study, goof off, etc.

[実習室]{じっしゅうしつ} = a room for practical training. As my university trains future
teachers, these are rooms that look like classrooms. If it were say something
like music, it would mean a music practice room.

* * *

To give an example, my friend is doing a PhD in fisheries. He and the other
graduate students use a 研究室 that has their computers, books, and pet fish.
From what I gather, his lab mates spend a lot of time watching hentai there.
His advisor also has 研究室 which is his office as we would use the term in
America. They have on their floor a 実験室 that contains several pieces of lab
equipment including an HPLC.

See also my answer at [Difference between 研究所 and
研究室](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/15005/difference-
between-%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E6%89%80-and-%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E5%AE%A4)
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Disclaimer: The only research I do is googling.

While not an authoritative source, [JP Wikipedia's 研究室
entry](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E5%AE%A4) says this on
the first sentence:

>
> 研究室（けんきゅうしつ、laboratory）とは、大学、短期大学、高等専門学校、研究所、企業の研究開発部門の研究の単位であり、また教員、研究者の執務室、部屋、プライベート空間のこと

So sometimes, 研究室 is not used to refer to a physical room or a facility, but
rather a research division of institutes like universities and research
centers. I came across a few uses of the term 研究室 not covered in virmaior's or
b-wilson's answer.

  1. Some universities' 文学部 (Faculty of Letters) use 研究室 to mean "department", e.g.

    * [Tohoku University](http://www.sal.tohoku.ac.jp/undergrad.html)
    * [Kyoto University](http://www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/departments/departments_list/)
    * [University of Tokyo](http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/laboratory/index.html)
    * [University of Nagoya](http://www.lit.nagoya-u.ac.jp/overview/graduate/)
  2. Also, 研究室 is sometimes used in the sense of "research group", perhaps similar to [Stanford AI Lab](http://ai.stanford.edu/), [MIT Media Lab](http://www.media.mit.edu/), [Caltech's Jet Propulsion Lab](http://www.caltech.edu/content/jet-propulsion-laboratory), etc.

    * Keio University: [伊藤研究室](http://www.appi.keio.ac.jp/Itoh_group/jp/) - Quantum computing
    * Nagoya Institute of Technology: [a list of 研究室 under the Department of Computer Science and Engineering](http://jouhou.web.nitech.ac.jp/link.html)
    * Tokyo Institute of Technology: [a list of 研究室 under the Department of Chemistry](http://www.chemistry.titech.ac.jp/staff.html).
    * Kyushu University: [a list of 研究室 under the Graduate School of Medical Sciences](http://www.grad.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp/masters_course/laboratory.html)

As far as I can tell (which is not very far), the terms 実験室 and 実習室 are not
used in these 2 ways.
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