1.
non-combat; not fighting; pacifism
The principle or state of not engaging in war or combat. Used in political and historical contexts to describe anti-war positions or treaties.
不戦の誓いを立てる。
To take a vow of non-aggression.
不戦条約は戦争の放棄を定めた。
The non-aggression pact stipulated the renunciation of war.
憲法の不戦の理念は、戦後日本の外交政策の根幹をなしている。
The constitutional principle of non-combat forms the foundation of postwar Japan's foreign policy.
2.
without a match; by default; walkover
In sports and competitions, winning or losing without the match actually taking place, typically because an opponent withdraws or fails to appear.
相手の棄権で不戦勝になった。
It became a win by default due to the opponent's withdrawal.
けがのため不戦敗となった。
It became a loss by default due to injury.
大会では不戦を含めて全勝だった。
At the tournament, the record was all wins including walkovers.
Compound of 不 ('non-; not') and 戦 ('war; battle; match'). The word has two quite different domains: geopolitical (sense 1) and sporting (sense 2), both deriving from the core meaning of 'not fighting.'
USAGE:
In the political sense, 不戦 often appears in discussions of Japan's pacifist constitution and international treaties. In the sports sense, it is common in tournament brackets and sumo results. Context makes the intended sense clear.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 不戦条約: non-aggression pact; Kellogg-Briand Pact
- 不戦の誓い: vow of non-aggression
- 不戦勝: win by default
- 不戦敗: loss by default
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 付箋: sticky note — homophone with different kanji; completely unrelated
- 休戦: ceasefire — a temporary stop to fighting, not the same as refusing to fight at all
- 棄権: withdrawal; abstention — the act of dropping out of a match, which causes a 不戦 result for the opponent
- 反戦: anti-war — active opposition to war; 不戦 is the state or principle of not fighting