How do you say "principal" in Japanese?

校長

kouchou

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "principal" is 校長 (kouchou).

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Pronunciation

Kouchou has two long vowels back to back, ko and cho, both drawn out slightly longer than a normal beat, like 'koh-choh'.

Writing and usage

校長 is written using kanji. It's a noun, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.

Example sentence

校長は新入生を歓迎した。

kouchou ha shinnyuusei wo kangei shita.

The principal welcomed the new students.

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How to remember 校長

Kouchou rhymes loosely with 'coach O', and a school principal is basically the head coach of the whole building.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 校長

How do you pronounce 校長?

Kouchou has two long vowels back to back, ko and cho, both drawn out slightly longer than a normal beat, like 'koh-choh'.

Is 校長 formal or casual?

校長 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 校長 written in Japanese?

校長 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as kouchou.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Principal" in other languages

Curated by Callan Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

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