辞任 and 引退: leaving a position and retiring
Compare a chair's intention to resign with an athlete's retirement announcement and life after retirement. Read the position or activity and each statement's timing.
Stepping down from a position
辞任 (じにん) means resignation from a position. 「委員長は健康上の理由で辞任を申し出た。」 reports the chair expressing an intention to resign for health reasons. Read the position and the action of offering the resignation.
「突然の辞任に、会議の参加者は驚いた。」 describes meeting participants' surprise at a sudden resignation. It does not say that all of the person's employment or activities ended.
Ending an activity or career
引退 (いんたい) means retirement. 「その選手は今季を最後に引退すると発表した。」 reports an athlete announcing retirement after this season. Keep the announcement separate from the future end of the activity.
「祖父は引退後、畑仕事を楽しんでいる。」 describes the grandfather enjoying fieldwork after retirement. 引退後 identifies life after the retirement without supplying his age or former occupation.
Intentions, plans, and completed retirement
辞任 focuses on leaving a particular position; 引退 focuses on ending an activity or career. Leaving a committee-chair position and ending an athletic career concern different targets.
Offering a resignation, announcing retirement after the season, and life after retirement represent different states. Health, season, or age does not become a necessary condition of either word.
What are the respective targets of the chair's 辞任 intention and the athlete's 引退 announcement?
Show the answer and why
The chair's position and the athlete's activity or career. These examples contain an intention and an announcement of a plan, so they do not immediately end every job or activity.