Diploma in Japanese has two meanings. They can be translated into "Senmonshi" (), the Japanese original academic degree, and the certificate of graduation.
The first meaning is a Japanese original academic degree given to people who had spent more than 2 years and successfully completed a particular specialized course of study at the vocational school certified by Japanese educational ministry. This academic degree was established in 1994 to improve the graduates' reputation and to promote lifelong learning. This is called , which means a specialist or an expert in Japanese. Its level is equal to associate or foundation degree given by the junior college. The name of academic degree in English was translated into "technical associate" in the past. The vocational schools in this article mean a , which means a professional training college, and a , which means a specialized training colleges.
The second meaning is documents of certificate of graduation or deed of Graduation issued by the educational institutions, such as an elementary school, a junior high school, a high school, and a university, which testified that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study, or confers an academic degree. This is called a "Sotsugyà  Shà Âsho" (Japanese:Ã¥ÂÂæ¥Â証æ¸) which literally means the certificate of graduation.