Japanese Colloquial Bible (Kōgoyaku)

The Kōgoyaku (口語訳聖書), published in 1955, is the first complete translation of the Bible into modern colloquial Japanese. It was produced by the Japan Bible Society (日本聖書協会) over the course of the 1950s, succeeding the classic Bungoyaku of 1887, written in archaic literary Japanese (bungo) that had become increasingly inaccessible to the ordinary postwar reader.

Its translation philosophy prioritized clarity and readability in everyday Japanese (kōgo), abandoning archaic grammatical structures and adopting the modern prose style established by the linguistic reforms that followed the Meiji era and were consolidated after 1945. The translation committee worked from the original Hebrew and Greek texts, with careful reference to authorized English translations, seeking a balance between textual fidelity and idiomatic naturalness.

Published in a Japan rebuilding after the Second World War, the Kōgoyaku played an important role in the expansion of Protestant Christianity in the country during the 1950s and 1960s. It became the standard Bible of many Japanese Protestant denominations and was used extensively in radio, Christian literature, and evangelism. Although more recent translations such as the Shinkaiyaku have gained ground, the Kōgoyaku retains a significant presence due to its literary quality and familiarity among long-time readers.

The text is in the public domain in several jurisdictions and is widely available on digital Bible platforms, allowing free access for the Japanese public and for scholars of Christianity in Japan.