装着 vs 着装? Souchaku vs Chakusou

Question

Both are used to mean equip right?

Any difference in meaning or are they interchangeable.

I noticed Japanese superhero shows seem to use both interchangeably, with Justirisers using 装着 and others like Gogov and Tomica Hero Rescue force use 着装.

Answer 1

「装着{そうちゃく}」 and 「着装{ちゃくそう}」 should be interchangeable most of the time. If I said otherwise, I would be fairly nitpicky.

If anything, 「着装」 is probably more often used to focus on the state of something attached to the main and/or larger object while 「装着」 may tend to focus more on the action of attaching something. If you, however, asked me if this difference were of utmost importance, I would reply somewhat negatively.

Answer 2

One obvious difference is that 装着 is far more common than 着装. On BCCWJ, there are 1,186 hits for 装着 and only 41 hits for 着装 (including false-positive results such as 蒸着装置 "vapor disposition device"). Personally I am only familiar with 装着.

Judging from the results above and the dictionary definition, 着装 seems to be safely used with ordinary clothes and dresses at least in formal/academic contexts. In particular, 着物 (Japanese kimono) and 着装 seem to be often used together (for example this). On the other hand, from what I understand, 装着 is usually used with armors, protectors, seat belts, etc. Anyway, in superhero contexts, I guess they are basically interchangeable.

Some similar examples are found here. There is even a book written by a Japanese amateur kanji fan.