奉公

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 奉公, read ほうこう, means working in service to a master or household.
• Basic usage: The examples describe people serving in an old merchant household or at a castle.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Leaving to enter service
  • In 商家へ奉公に出た, へ marks the merchant household as the destination, and に marks service as the purpose of going.
• Place of service
  • 城で奉公した means having worked in service at the castle.
  • で marks where the work took place.
• Service and employment
  • 就職 broadly describes obtaining a job, whereas 奉公 brings out a relationship of serving a master. It is not a general replacement for modern employment.