1.
barren land; wasteland; an area where vegetation cannot grow
A geographical region — desert, frozen tundra, or rocky terrain — where the soil and climate make farming or natural plant growth impossible. Used in physical geography and travel writing.
砂漠は不毛地帯だ。
Deserts are barren lands.
この地域は雨が少なく、不毛地帯となっている。
This region has little rain and has become a barren area.
極寒の不毛地帯を探検家たちは何週間もかけて越えた。
The explorers spent many weeks crossing the freezing barren land.
2.
(figuratively) area or field devoid of activity, talent, or productivity
Used metaphorically to describe a domain where something expected is missing — a field with no notable talent, a market with no products, a region with no industry, etc. Common in journalism and commentary, often paired with the area in question (e.g., 政治の不毛地帯 'political wasteland'). Famously the title of a popular novel and TV drama by Yamasaki Toyoko.
ここは才能の不毛地帯だ。
This place is a wasteland of talent.
日本の政治は議論の不毛地帯とも言われる。
Japanese politics is sometimes called a wasteland of debate.
長い間、この業界は新しいアイデアの不毛地帯と言われ続けてきた。
For a long time, this industry has been called a wasteland of new ideas.
Compound of 不毛 ('barren; sterile; fruitless') and 地帯 ('zone; belt; region'). Used both literally for barren physical terrain and figuratively for fields lacking productivity, talent, or substance.
USAGE:
- In its literal sense, common in geography textbooks, news about climate and agriculture, and travel writing.
- In its figurative sense, common in journalism, commentary, and book/article titles. Often takes the form X の不毛地帯 ('a wasteland of X').
- The novel and TV drama 「不毛地帯」 by Yamasaki Toyoko (山崎豊子) made the word familiar to a wide Japanese audience.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 政治の不毛地帯: political wasteland
- 議論の不毛地帯: a wasteland of debate
- 才能の不毛地帯: a wasteland of talent
- 不毛地帯を緑化する: to green a barren area
- 不毛地帯と化す: to turn into a wasteland
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 荒野: wilderness; wasteland — focuses on uncultivated, wild land; more poetic and less technical.
- 砂漠: desert — a specific type of barren land defined by aridity.
- 不毛: barren; fruitless — the underlying na-adjective; can apply to land or to abstract things like discussions.
- 未開地: undeveloped land — focuses on lack of human development rather than infertility.
- 空白地帯: blank zone; vacuum — figurative term for an area where something is absent (e.g., a legal 空白地帯).