日本語道場

Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2

Grammar

N2

～を皮切りに

~o kawakiri ni

starting with, kicking off with

When to use it

Use ～を皮切りに when one event serves as the opening move in a series of similar events that follow — a rollout, a nationwide tour, a wave of expansion, a chain of price revisions. It belongs to written and formal spoken register (press releases, reports, meeting summaries) and requires that something genuinely continues afterward; for a mere first instance with no sequel, use 最初に or はじめに. Note it is neutral-to-positive in nuance, so it fits launches and expansions rather than scandals or failures (there, ～を発端に is safer).

Formation

  • Noun: 名詞 + を皮切りに / を皮切りにして / を皮切りとして (formal written variant). The noun must name an event or action — 発表, 提携, 説明会, 値上げ, 東京公演 — not a person or a physical object.
  • Verb: no direct attachment. Nominalize first: 辞任したのを皮切りに、～ / 発表したのを皮切りに、～ (less common in polished writing; a noun is preferred: 辞任を皮切りに).
  • i-adjective / na-adjective: not used.
  • The following clause states what unfolds afterward, typically with 次々と, 順次, 全国で, 相次いで, or a verb of expansion.

Examples

  • Starting with the briefing in Tokyo, we'll tour ten cities nationwide.

  • Kicking off with this partnership, we want to accelerate our Asian expansion.

  • Beginning with the Osaka branch rollout, we'll extend it company-wide in stages.

  • The manager's remark set things off, and the discussion suddenly came alive.

  • Starting with our price cut, the other firms followed one after another.