How to say "Customs" in Japanese | 税関

If you are wondering what's the Japanese word for "Customs" you've come to the right place!

the Japanese word for "Customs" is "Zeikan", written in japanese as "税関".

Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Japanese noun '税関 (ぜいかん)' refers to 'customs', specifically the government agency responsible for regulating the flow of goods into and out of a country, as well as collecting duties and taxes on imports and exports. This term is commonly used in contexts related to international travel, shipping, and trade. For example: I went through customs「税関を通りました」(ぜいかんをとおりました). The customs officer checked my luggage「税関の職員が私の荷物をチェックしました」(ぜいかんのしょくいんがわたしのにもつをチェックしました). It is important to note that '税関' is often associated with airports, seaports, and border crossings.

The Kanji are characters that represent meanings. As you can see, this word is made up of 2 Kanji:

The kanji "税" means "Tax" and can be read as "Zei". And The kanji "関" means "Barrier" and "Related" and can be read as "Kan" and "Seki".

Now, let's make sure you understand this word the other way around too.

What does "Zeikan" mean in japanese?

"Zeikan" means "Customs" .

To learn more about the kanji in this word, checkout this pages:

To make really sure you learn this word, We've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this word and of the characters that comprise it.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "ぜ" is read as "ze". The hiragana "い" is read as "i". The hiragana "か" is read as "ka". The hiragana "ん" is read as "n". The hiragana "せ" is read as "se". And The hiragana "き" is read as "ki".

About kanji, you need to know that most Kanji have two types of readings: Kunyomi, based on native japanese pronunciation. And onyomi, based on chinese pronunciation.