照会 and 照合: answering inquiries and cross-checking records
Compare asking a store or answering a department’s inquiry with checking numbers and dates across records. Distinguish the responding party from the material compared.
Asking another party or answering its inquiry
照会 (しょうかい) means inquiry or verification request. 「注文の状況を店に照会した。」 means “I asked the store about the status of my order.” The store is the party asked, and order status is the information requested.
「担当部署からの照会にメールで回答した。」 means “I replied by email to an inquiry from the responsible department.” The department made the inquiry, and the speaker answered it by email. Unlike the first example, this sentence follows the responding side of the relationship.
Cross-checking materials
照合 (しょうごう) means verification or cross-check. 「申込書の番号を名簿と照合した。」 means “I checked the application number against the roster.” The application number was compared with the roster. The relationship is between materials being checked rather than between an inquirer and a respondent.
「二つの記録を照合すると日付の違いが見つかった。」 means “Comparing the two records revealed a difference in the dates.” A difference in dates was found after the comparison. This is the stated result of that comparison, not a guarantee that every comparison reveals a date difference.
Follow the respondent or the materials compared
For 照会, identify who requests information from whom and who answers. For 照合, identify which materials are compared. An email response establishes a responding relationship; it does not by itself prove that records match.
The departmental inquiry has an inquiring party and a responding party. The two-record example has compared materials and a discovered date difference. These are different connections: replying to another party and comparing one record with another.
How does replying by email to a department’s 照会 differ from 照合 of two records in its relationship to the other party or materials?
Show the answer and why
The first is an inquiry-and-response relationship with the department. The second describes comparing two records and finding a difference in dates. Sending a reply does not establish a match or complete verification of every record.