において

Register: 書(か)き言葉(ことば) (written language) and formal speech — official announcements, academic writing, news. It is not used in ordinary conversation, where で is the natural choice.

Formation: に + おいて (from 於(お)く, an old form of 置(お)く 'to place'). The prenominal form における is used directly before a noun.

Forms

• における + noun: 教育(きょういく)における問題(もんだい) (problems in education)
• においては: emphatic/contrastive form, often setting up a limitation ('at least as far as X is concerned')
• においても: 'also in X'

Common patterns

• 分野(ぶんや)において (in the field of ~)
• 点(てん)において (in terms of ~)
• 意味(いみ)において (in the sense of ~)
• 現在(げんざい)において (at present)

Vs. で: において is the formal counterpart and is preferred for abstract locations, fields, and points in time; で covers all the same ground in everyday language. において cannot replace the で that marks means or instrument (バスで行(い)く, 'go by bus').