商 家(しょうか)

しょうか

noun

merchant family; merchant house

1. merchant family; merchant's house

A family that runs a trading business, or the house where such a family lived and kept shop. Common when talking about the Edo period and about old town districts.

母(はは)は商家(しょうか)の生(う)まれだ。

My mother was born into a merchant family.

古(ふる)い商家(しょうか)の町並(まちな)みが残(のこ)っている。

A streetscape of old merchant houses remains.

江戸時代(えどじだい)、少年(しょうねん)たちは商家(しょうか)に奉公(ほうこう)して商売(しょうばい)を覚(おぼ)えた。

In the Edo period, boys learned business by serving in merchant households.

Common collocations

商家(しょうか)に生(う)まれる: to be born into a merchant family
商家(しょうか)の跡取(あとと)り: heir to a merchant house
商家(しょうか)に奉公(ほうこう)する: to serve as an apprentice in a merchant house
旧(きゅう)商家(しょうか): a former merchant's house (often preserved as a museum)

Watch out

唱歌(しょうか) (school song), 消化(しょうか) (digestion), and 消火(しょうか) (firefighting) share the reading; 商家(しょうか) is mostly a written, historical word

general

Added 2026.10.10 21:20 · Revised 2026.10.10 21:23

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