探す
さがす
sagasu
= to search for / to look for / to seek / to hunt for
Sagasu captures the active, intentional act of looking for something you want or need to find — whether it is a missing key, a new apartment, or the right words to say. Unlike a passive wait, sagasu implies motion and purpose.
As a transitive verb, sagasu always takes an object marked with wo: shigoto wo sagasu (to look for a job), ie wo sagasu (to search for a house). The progressive form sagashite iru describes an ongoing search — someone currently in the process of hunting for something. This distinguishes sagasu from shiraberu (調べる), which means to investigate or look up information. You sagasu a lost wallet because you want to physically find it; you shiraberu a train schedule because you want factual data. The emotional weight of sagasu can also extend to abstract searches: looking for meaning, a partner, or one’s place in the world.
The most common mix-up is sagasu vs shiraberu. Use sagasu when you are hunting for a specific thing that exists somewhere and you want to physically or emotionally find it. Use shiraberu when you are researching facts, checking information, or investigating a topic. If your phone is missing, you sagasu it. If you want to know its specs, you shiraberu. Also note that sagasu conjugates as a godan verb: sagashimasu (polite), sagashite (te-form), sagashita (past).
The kanji 探 pairs the hand radical 手 (扌) on the left with a right-side component combining 木 (tree/wood) and 冖 (a cover or canopy). The image evokes a hand reaching through foliage or under cover — probing, parting branches to find what is hidden. This visual root makes 探 appear in related words like tanken (探検, exploration) and tantei (探偵, detective), all carrying the sense of actively seeking what is concealed.
Everyday use
財布をどこかに忘れてきたから、今必死に探している。
Saifu wo dokoka ni wasurete kita kara, ima hisshi ni sagashite iru.
I left my wallet somewhere, so I’m desperately searching for it right now.
Casual / Social Media
一緒にカフェ巡りできる友達を探してます！東京近辺の方、ぜひ。
Issho ni kafe meguri dekiru tomodachi wo sagashitemasu! Tokyo kinpen no kata, zehi.
Looking for friends to go café-hopping with! Anyone near Tokyo, please reach out.
Formal / Cultural context
弊社では現在、経験豊富なエンジニアを積極的に探しております。
Heisha dewa genzai, keiken hōfu na enjinia wo sekkyokuteki ni sagashite orimasu.
Our company is actively seeking experienced engineers at this time.
The verb sagasu runs through the everyday texture of Japanese life in ways that reflect a culture comfortable with patient, methodical effort. Job hunting in Japan — shūkatsu (就活) — is built around shigoto wo sagasu, and the phrase carries with it the weight of a rite of passage. Young graduates spend months searching, attending company briefings, and refining their approach, treating the search itself as a serious undertaking rather than a casual browse.
In Japanese storytelling and song, sagasu frequently carries emotional depth. A character searching for a lost person, a forgotten memory, or a sense of belonging uses sagasu to express longing in motion — not passive hope but active reaching. This makes the word a natural fit for titles and lyrics that want to convey both urgency and vulnerability without melodrama.
The related noun sagashi appears in compound words like takarasagashi (宝探し, treasure hunt), a term used both for literal games played at children’s events and as a metaphor for any delightful search. This cheerful connotation coexists with the serious register, giving sagasu a flexibility that lets it move comfortably from a child’s scavenger hunt to an adult’s career search.