1.
a break room; a lounge or rest area in a workplace, school, hospital, or public facility where people can sit, relax, eat, or take a break
Refers to a dedicated room or space for taking breaks, distinct from the main work, study, or activity area. 休憩室 can be found in offices, factories, hospitals, schools, museums, shopping centres, train stations, and highway service areas. In a corporate setting it usually means an employees-only break room with chairs, tables, vending machines, and possibly a microwave; in a public facility it usually means a free rest area open to all visitors.
休憩室でコーヒーを飲んだ。
I drank coffee in the break room.
休憩室は二階にあります。
The break room is on the second floor.
昼休みに同僚と休憩室でお弁当を食べた。
I ate my packed lunch with a coworker in the break room during lunch break.
ショッピングモールの休憩室には、ベビーカーで来たお母さんたちがたくさん座っていた。
Lots of mothers who had come with strollers were sitting in the shopping mall's rest area.
Composed of 休憩 ('rest, break') + 室 ('room'). The compound is fully transparent: 'a room for rest'. The noun 休憩 also forms the verb 休憩する ('to take a break').
USAGE:
休憩室 can describe two slightly different things depending on the place:
- In workplaces, schools, and hospitals it usually means an employee/staff break room with seating and refreshments. Public visitors are not normally allowed.
- In shopping malls, museums, train stations, and highway service areas it usually means a free public rest area where any visitor can sit down. Such rooms are often labelled with a chair pictogram and may include vending machines, water coolers, or charging outlets.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 休憩室に入る: to enter the break room
- 休憩室を利用する: to use the rest area
- 休憩室で休む: to rest in the break room
- 社員休憩室: employee break room
- 女性休憩室: women's lounge
- 無料休憩室: free rest area
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 休み処: rest spot — a more old-fashioned, picturesque word; often seen on signs at temples, parks, and hot-spring resorts.
- 仮眠室: nap room — specifically for short sleeps, often found in hospitals (for doctors and nurses on long shifts) and some 24-hour workplaces.
- ラウンジ: lounge — a loanword used for hotel lobbies, airline VIP lounges, and upscale hotel waiting areas. More glamorous in nuance than 休憩室.
- サロン: salon — used for beauty salons or upscale lounges; a fashion-oriented loanword.
- 談話室: common room, lounge for conversation — found in dormitories, hospital wards, and old-style hotels.
CULTURAL NOTE:
Many Japanese department stores and shopping malls maintain comfortable, free 休憩室 specifically so that elderly customers and parents with small children can sit and rest. They are a small but appreciated feature of Japan's customer-service culture, sometimes including diaper-changing tables, nursing rooms, and water dispensers nearby.