The Meaning of misshū [密集] In Japanese

密集
みっしゅう
Romaji: misshū N3

What does 密集 mean?

Translation and Meaning

dense, crowded, close-packed

Definition

密集 means a state in which things are packed closely together, producing high density; it is used to describe crowds, populations, and densely arranged spaces.

Type

Noun, suru-verb (名詞, する動詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • Dense or crowded condition of people, structures, or items
  • High density in a region’s population or layout
  • As a verb, 密集する to crowd together or become densely packed

Composition

  • 密 mitsu — close, dense; 宀 roof indicates enclosure
  • 集 shū — to gather, assemble
  • 密集 as a compound means a dense gathering of people or objects

Usage

Used in formal and neutral discourse to describe density or crowding; common collocations include 人口密集, 都市密集, 建物密集. In descriptions, 実施状況や都市計画の文脈で用いられる。短い表現として密集度, 密集した地域なども使われる。

💡 Tips

Mnemonic: imagine a tight-roofed room (密) where a crowd (集) presses together; the two ideas combine to form 密集—the feeling of a dense, close-packed crowd.

Variations

  • 密集 — misshū: dense or crowded
  • 混雑 — konzatsu: crowding, congestion
  • 人口密集 — jinkō misshū: dense population
  • 高密度 — kōmitsudo: high density

Example Phrases

  • 今朝の 駅前 は 人 の 密集 で 混雑 して いる。
    Kesa no ekimae wa hito no misshū de konzatsu shite iru.
    This morning, the station front is crowded with people due to a dense crowd.
    Lista:
    • 今朝の (Kesa no) – this morning’s
    • 駅前 (ekimae) – station front
    • は (wa) – topic marker
    • 人 (hito) – person
    • の (no) – of
    • 密集 (misshū) – dense crowd
    • で (de) – by; at; with (causal)
    • 混雑 (konzatsu) – congestion
    • して (shite) – do (te-form)
    • いる (iru) – be
    密集 is a noun meaning ‘dense crowd’; here 「密集」＋で marks the cause/reason: ‘due to a dense crowd’.
密集