改善(かいぜん)

改善(かいぜん) means improvement, especially through deliberate effort. It is also famous worldwide as a Japanese business philosophy ("kaizen") emphasizing continuous, incremental improvement.

TRANSITIVITY:

• Type: Both transitive (他動詞(たどうし)) and intransitive (自動詞(じどうし))
• Transitive: [noun]を改善(かいぜん)する
• Intransitive: [noun]が改善(かいぜん)する

COMMON PATTERNS:

• 〜を改善(かいぜん)する: to improve ~
• 改善(かいぜん)の余地(よち): room for improvement
• 改善(かいぜん)点(てん): points to improve
• 改善(かいぜん)策(さく): improvement measures
• 改善(かいぜん)が見(み)られる: improvement is observed

USAGE:
Applies broadly: 健康(けんこう)の改善(かいぜん) (health improvement), 環境(かんきょう)改善(かいぜん) (environmental improvement), 業務(ぎょうむ)改善(かいぜん) (work process improvement).

SIMILAR WORDS:

• 改善(かいぜん): general improvement (of conditions, situations)
• 改良(かいりょう): improvement of products, systems, or methods
• 向上(こうじょう): enhancement, raising to a higher level (能力(のうりょく)の向上(こうじょう) = skill improvement)

ASPECT (ている):

• Intransitive: 状況(じょうきょう)が改善(かいぜん)している: the situation is improving / has improved (state of ongoing or completed improvement)
• Transitive: [person]が[X]を改善(かいぜん)している: is working on improving X (progressive action)
• 改善(かいぜん)されている: has been improved (passive resultative — commonly used for systems, products, conditions)
• Note: Because 改善(かいぜん)する is both transitive and intransitive, the ている form has different meanings. With the intransitive (subject が), it commonly indicates the resulting improved state or a gradual improvement trend. With the transitive (subject が, object を), it describes the ongoing activity of making improvements.