特長(とくちょう)

特長(とくちょう) emphasizes positive, advantageous qualities—things that are strong points or merits.

SIMILAR WORD:

• 特徴(とくちょう): characteristic, distinguishing feature (neutral—can be positive, negative, or neither)

The key difference:

• 特長(とくちょう): always positive (strong points, advantages)
• 特徴(とくちょう): neutral (any distinguishing feature)

EXAMPLE OF THE DIFFERENCE:

• この車(くるま)の特長(とくちょう)は燃費(ねんぴ)の良(よ)さだ (The car's merit is its good fuel efficiency)
• この車(くるま)の特徴(とくちょう)は赤(あか)い色(いろ)だ (The car's characteristic is its red color)