跡継ぎ
あとつぎ
heir; successor (to a family or family business)
By Nihongo PathUpdated
Examples
彼はこの店の跡継ぎだ。
かれはこのみせのあとつぎだ。
He is the one who will take over this shop.
跡継ぎがいなくて廃業する農家が多い。
あとつぎがいなくてはいぎょうするのうかがおおい。
Many farming families give up because there is no one to take over.
長男は家の跡継ぎとして厳しく育てられた。
ちょうなんはいえのあとつぎとしてきびしくそだてられた。
The eldest son was raised strictly as the family's heir.
Common patterns
- 跡継ぎがいない
- to have no successor
- 跡継ぎを決める
- to decide on a successor
- 店の跡継ぎ
- the heir to the shop
Memory tip
Specifically the person who carries on a household, shop or craft — not a successor in a modern corporate post, which is 後継者. 後継ぎ is an equally common spelling.
Kanji in this word
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What does 跡継ぎ mean?