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A Japanese word or phrase that means 'empathy' (not 'sympathy')?

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student2023zzz1

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Hi all!
I'm looking for a word or phrase in Japanese that means 'empathy'. I would like it to have the same nuance in English that distinguishes it from 'sympathy'.
So far, I have found 共情, but this leans closer to sympathy/pity rather than empathy. I have also discovered 人情, but it seems a bit less precise, seemingly referring to humanity and human goodwill in general.
My intention is to use this for a sort of calligraphy design, so ideally the word or phrase will have some weight to it. Both 共情 and 人情 seem to have that weight, but I don't really want the undertone of pity in 共情.
I'm guessing that my best bet is 人情?
Thanks in advance for any help!
 
I believe the most common translation is 共感.

I'm Japanese, but I've never heard 共情. I looked up the word in several J-J dictionaries, but it's not in 広辞苑, 大辞林, 大辞泉, 新辞林, 新明解国語辞典, 明鏡国語辞典, etc.. Google search results suggest that 共情 is a relatively-new Chinese translation of "empathy".
 
Thanks for replying!
I see. 共感 is definitely an option. I'm still leaning towards 人情, mostly because it doesn't have as strong an undertone of 'pity' as 共 (I may be wrong here). Would you say there are any glaring differences between the two? Or would you have any examples of how they can be used?
 
共 means "together" in those compound words. It doesn't have any nuance of "pity" at all.

人情 and 共感 are totally different. 人情 usually doesn't have the meaning of "empathy" (or sympathy, either). It's closer to "humanity", "warmth people have" in nuance.
 
How do we say "compassion" in Japanese, especially as it is used in Buddhism? The phrase "great compassion" is often used in English Buddhism, so I would imagine it is used in Japanese Buddhism as well. (Buddha is often called The Compassionate One.)
 
Whenever I learn a new kanji word in Japanese, I always like to check in on the Weblio translation page to see various examples of how it is used. Take a look towards the bottom of this page for examples of 慈悲 (jihi) being used in Japanese and English.

「慈悲」の英語・英語例文・英語表現 - Weblio和英辞書

｢慈悲｣は英語でどう表現する？【単語】mercy...【例文】Please spare my life, for mercy's sake!...【その他の表現】charity... - 1000万語以上収録！英訳・英文・英単語の使い分けならWeblio英和・和英辞書
ejje.weblio.jp
 
Are you asking about compassion in Buddhism, right? A term used in religions, philosophies or many science fields often has a specific meaning, definition or nuance which is different from usual meanings of the word. 慈 and 悲 in Buddhism are different from 慈しむ/慈しみ and 悲しむ/悲しみ in general, respectively.

慈悲 - Wikipedia

ja.wikipedia.org

from 大般涅槃経

In the first place, it's more likely "compassion" is the English translation of the concept of 慈悲, isn't it?
 
Yes, that sounds like the right translation, even though the meaning and usage of compassion don't change when used in buddhist and non-buddhist sentences in English.
 
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