自由研究

じゆうけんきゅう
noun
independent study project (school assignment)
educationculture
1. independent study project; free research assignment
A school assignment, classically over summer vacation, in which a student chooses a topic and investigates it freely — through experiments, observation, crafts, or fieldwork.
夏休(なつやす)みの自由研究(じゆうけんきゅう)に困(こま)っている。
I'm stuck on my summer independent study project.
自由研究(じゆうけんきゅう)で朝顔(あさがお)の観察日記(かんさつにっき)を付(つ)けた。
For my independent study project, I kept an observation journal of morning glories.
息子(むすこ)の自由研究(じゆうけんきゅう)のテーマが決(き)まらず、家族(かぞく)で頭(あたま)を悩(なや)ませた。
My son couldn't settle on a topic for his independent study project, and the whole family puzzled over it.

Composed of 自由(じゆう) (free) + 研究(けんきゅう) (research). A long-standing summer-vacation tradition in Japanese elementary and junior-high schools; choosing the topic is famously a source of headaches for students and parents.

Common collocations

  • 夏休(なつやす)みの自由研究(じゆうけんきゅう): summer-vacation independent study
  • 自由研究(じゆうけんきゅう)のテーマ: the topic of an independent study project
  • 自由研究(じゆうけんきゅう)をまとめる: to write up an independent study project
general
Added 2026.5.24 12:09 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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