Word
支店
Meaning in Englishbranch office, branch store
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
支店 means a branch office or branch store of a company, bank, or organization, located away from the main headquarters to manage local operations.
Main meanings
- branch office or branch store of a company, bank, or organization
- regional or local office serving customers or operations
- a secondary location within a retail chain or corporate network
How to use it
Used in formal business and institutional Japanese, finance, logistics, and retail contexts; appropriate for written communication, reports, contracts, and everyday speech when referring to a local branch; the term is more common than 'branch office' for retail or corporate networks.
Variants and close terms
- 支社 (shisha) — branch office of a corporate group
- 本店 (honten) — head office or flagship store
- 支店網 (shitenmō) — network of branches
Composition
- 支: branch; to support; to hold up
- 店: shop; store
- Combination: the branch of a company or bank, i.e., a store or office that is part of a larger organization
Etymology
支 and 店 are Chinese characters used in Japanese; they combine in a Sino-Japanese compound. The on'yomi readings shi and ten merge to form shiten (shi-ten).
Word class
noun (名詞)