巨人
kyojin[kʲo̞ʑĩɴ]
The Japanese word for the mythical human 'giant' is 巨人 (kyojin).
巨人 refers to a mythical human. Other terms exist depending on the context: 巨漢 is used to describe a person of giant stature or someone who is heavily built, while でかい is a colloquial way to express that something or someone is giant.
Meaning: mythical human (noun)
Which one should you use?
While 巨人 is the standard term for a mythical giant, you might use 巨漢 to describe a person's large, heavy build or 巨人級 as an informal way to emphasize an immense scale, such as 'giant-class'.
How do you pronounce it?
kyojin
Did you know?
- In the global phenomenon 'Attack on Titan', the titular titans are called 巨人, meaning 'giants'.
- The popular baseball team the Yomiuri Giants is referred to simply as 巨人 in Japanese.
- Using the colloquial term でかい to describe a person can sometimes sound blunt or impolite, even though it literally means 'giant' or 'huge'.
Examples in context
- その建物は巨人のような存在感を持っているThat building has a presence like a giant.
- 彼は巨漢の力士ですHe is a sumo wrestler with a giant build.
- あのケーキは巨大で食べ切れないThat cake is giant, and I can't finish it.
- 伝説の巨人が現れた。Densetsu no kyojin ga arawareta.A legendary giant appeared.
- その物語には巨人が登場します。Sono monogatari ni wa kyojin ga toujou shimasu.A giant appears in that story.
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing a fantasy novel in a cafe.
- 美咲 Misakiこの本にはどんな敵が出てくるの？Kono hon ni wa donna teki ga dete kuru no?What kind of enemies appear in this book?
- 大翔 Hiroto恐ろしい巨人がたくさん出てくるよ。Osoroshii kyojin ga takusan dete kuru yo.Lots of scary giants appear.
- 美咲 Misaki巨人が戦うのは迫力がありそうだね。Kyojin ga tatakau no wa hakuryoku ga arisou da ne.Giants fighting sounds very powerful.
- 大翔 Hirotoうん、すごく迫力があるシーンだよ。Un, sugoku hakuryoku ga aru shiin da yo.Yeah, it's a very powerful scene.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “giant” translations and entries 巨人, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 巨人, CC BY-SA 4.0.
