Meaning & Usage
を問わず (をとわず) is a formal grammar pattern meaning "regardless of," "no matter what/who/when/where," or "irrespective of." It signals that a particular condition or distinction has no bearing on the outcome — the result stays the same whatever that factor turns out to be.
The verb 問う (tou) means "to question" or "to ask about," and its negative form 問わず literally means "without questioning." Paired with the object marker を, the full pattern を問わず reads as "without asking about [X]" — or in natural English, "regardless of [X]."
を問わず belongs firmly in formal written Japanese: job advertisements, official announcements, academic prose, and corporate communications. In casual speech it sounds stiff, and native speakers reach instead for にかかわらず or にかかわりなく. When を問わず does surface in conversation, it marks the speaker as deliberately formal.
Think of を問わず as sweeping a circle around every possible value of a variable: "Whichever value applies, the statement holds." Say 年齢を問わず and you are declaring that whether someone is twenty or seventy, age simply does not enter the picture. Age-based distinctions, universal policies, and inclusive announcements are exactly the territory where this pattern belongs.
A key structural variant is A か B かを問わず, meaning "regardless of whether A or B." Both か particles are required. 男女を問わず uses a compound noun and skips the か structure entirely; 男か女かを問わず spells out the binary choice explicitly. Both are correct — just different forms.
Structure & Formation
を問わず attaches directly to nouns. Verbs and adjectives require nominalization first. Two nouns can stack before を問わず without any connector, a pattern especially common in job listings and official notices.
| Pattern | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Noun + を問わず | 経験を問わず |
| A or B | A か B かを問わず | 昼か夜かを問わず |
| Interrogative | Question word + を問わず | 何を問わず / 誰を問わず |
| Compound noun | [Noun + Noun] + を問わず | 国籍年齢を問わず |
を問わず can be followed by a comma before the main clause, or it can run directly into the sentence. It can also modify a following noun via の (e.g., を問わずの採用), though を問わない + noun is more common in that role.
- Noun + を問わず + Main clause — most common pattern
- A か B かを問わず + Main clause — emphasizing a binary contrast
- を問わず + の + Noun — modifying a following noun (e.g., を問わずの採用)
Example Sentences
Basic Usage with Single Nouns
経験を問わず、ご応募ください。
Keiken wo towazu, go-oubo kudasai.
Regardless of experience, please apply.
年齢を問わず、誰でもこのイベントに参加できます。
Nenrei wo towazu, dare demo kono ibento ni sanka dekimasu.
Anyone can participate in this event, regardless of age.
国籍を問わず、全ての人が平等に扱われるべきだ。
Kokuseki wo towazu, subete no hito ga byoudou ni atsukawareru beki da.
All people should be treated equally, regardless of nationality.
A か B か Pattern
昼か夜かを問わず、この店は常に混んでいる。
Hiru ka yoru ka wo towazu, kono mise wa tsune ni konde iru.
This shop is always crowded, regardless of whether it's day or night.
勝ちか負けかを問わず、全力を尽くすことが大切だ。
Kachi ka make ka wo towazu, zenryoku wo tsukusu koto ga taisetsu da.
Regardless of winning or losing, giving your all is what matters.
晴れかどうかを問わず、試合は予定通りに行われます。
Hare ka douka wo towazu, shiai wa yotei doori ni okonawaremasu.
The match will proceed as scheduled, regardless of whether it is sunny or not.
Stacked Nouns (Formal Contexts)
性別年齢を問わず、幅広い人材を募集しています。
Seibetsu nenrei wo towazu, habahiroi jinzai wo boshuu shite imasu.
We are recruiting a wide range of talent, regardless of gender or age.
国籍経験を問わず採用いたします。
Kokuseki keiken wo towazu saiyou itashimasu.
We will hire regardless of nationality or experience.
Interrogative Words
何を問わず、ご相談ください。
Nani wo towazu, go-soudan kudasai.
Please consult us about anything, no matter what it is.
誰を問わず、このルールは適用されます。
Dare wo towazu, kono ruuru wa tekiyou saremasu.
This rule applies to everyone, regardless of who they are.
Natural / Extended Sentences
時間を問わず連絡してください。必ず対応します。
Jikan wo towazu renraku shite kudasai. Kanarazu taiou shimasu.
Please contact us at any time, regardless of the hour. We will always respond.
このサービスは地域を問わず利用できます。
Kono saabisu wa chiiki wo towazu riyou dekimasu.
This service can be used regardless of region.
障害の有無を問わず、すべての学生が同じ機会を得られるよう取り組んでいます。
Shougai no umu wo towazu, subete no gakusei ga onaji kikai wo erareru you torikunde imasu.
We are working to ensure that all students have equal opportunities, regardless of disability status.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using を問わず with Verbs Directly
❌ 働くを問わず、給料がもらえます。
✅ 雇用の形態を問わず、給料がもらえます。
を問わず attaches only to nouns. The verb 働く cannot take を問わず directly. Nominalize using こと or の, or — better — rephrase with a related noun like 雇用の形態 (employment type).
Mistake 2: Confusing を問わず with にかかわらず
❌ 天気を問わず (when emphasizing a contrast or condition)
✅ 天気にかかわらず (more natural for weather-type contrasts)
Both patterns mean "regardless of," but they have different feels. を問わず is declarative and formal — best suited to fixed categories like age, gender, nationality, and experience. にかかわらず is more flexible and fits comfortably in both spoken and written Japanese. For weather and abstract conditions, にかかわらず usually sounds more natural, though either can be grammatically correct.
Mistake 3: Dropping a か in the A か B か Pattern
❌ 男か女を問わず（second か missing）
✅ 男か女かを問わず / 男女を問わず
The A か B か pattern requires both か particles. Writing 男か女を問わず — with only one か — is incomplete and sounds unnatural. If a compound noun exists (like 男女), use the simpler noun + を問わず form instead. Drop one か and the sentence breaks down.
Mistake 4: Using を問わず in Casual Conversation
❌ ねえ、年齢を問わず、このゲームできるよ。（with close friends）
✅ ねえ、年齢に関係なく、このゲームできるよ。
を問わず is bureaucratic by nature. Among friends it sounds out of place — like reading from a company handbook. Casual conversation calls for に関係なく or just 関係ない.
Mistake 5: Misplacing を問わず in the Sentence
❌ このジムは会員ができる年齢を問わず。
✅ 年齢を問わず、このジムで会員になれます。
を問わず sets the scope, so it goes before the main clause — typically at the front of the sentence. Tucking it inside a relative clause or hanging it at the end produces ungrammatical Japanese. Front-load the condition, then state what is true under it.
Cultural Notes
を問わず is the default phrasing in Japanese job advertisements, HR policy documents, and public announcements. Browse any job board and you will find 経験不問 (no experience required — a compressed form) or 年齢性別を問わず printed as standard boilerplate. Fluency with this pattern is a practical skill, not just a test item.
Diversity and inclusion efforts have given the phrase fresh visibility in corporate Japan. Phrases like 性別・国籍を問わず採用 (hiring regardless of gender or nationality) now appear prominently in company mission statements and recruitment pages. Japanese companies increasingly use this phrasing to signal open, internationally minded hiring.
Government and public health materials also lean on this structure. A vaccination campaign might read 年齢を問わず受診できます — anyone, any age, can get the checkup. Once you know the pattern, official Japanese documents start making much more sense.
JLPT Tips
On the JLPT N2 exam, を問わず most commonly appears in grammar selection questions where you must choose between を問わず and similar patterns like にかかわらず or に関係なく. The deciding factor is formality and the type of noun it follows.
A reliable heuristic: を問わず almost always follows nouns representing categorical or demographic distinctions — age (年齢), gender (性別), experience (経験), nationality (国籍), time (時間), or region (地域). A formal or announcement-like context? を問わず is almost certainly the answer.
In sentence rearrangement questions (並べ替え), を問わず belongs before the main clause. Practice placing it at the start of the second half of the sentence — it fronts the condition, then the main clause follows.
Watch for distractors like を含めて (including) or に限って (only when / limited to). Those patterns restrict scope; を問わず removes all restriction. The JLPT tests this contrast deliberately.
One final point: を問わず never affects the tense of the main clause. Unlike conditional patterns like たら or ば, there are no tense restrictions here. Once you know which nouns it attaches to, the grammar is clean and predictable.