にもかかわらず— In Spite of It All

• 雨にもかかわらず、大勢の人が集まった。

  Ame ni mo kakawarazu, oozei no hito ga atsumatta.

  In spite of the rain, a large crowd gathered.

  Noun 雨 + にもかかわらず — the crowd came despite the rain

• 努力したにもかかわらず、試験に落ちた。

  Doryoku shita ni mo kakawarazu, shiken ni ochita.

  Despite having worked hard, I failed the exam.

  Plain past form + にもかかわらず shows an unexpected negative result

• 彼は病気であるにもかかわらず、出勤した。

  Kare wa byouki de aru ni mo kakawarazu, shukkin shita.

  Even though he was ill, he came to work.

  な-adj/Noun + である + にもかかわらず in a formal register

• ・Register: formal/written; more emphatic than のに.
• ・Often conveys surprise or dissatisfaction at the unexpected outcome.
• ・Do not confuse with にかかわらず ('regardless of'), which lists options rather than concedes a fact.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones にもかかわらず is tested against.

• に応えて — In Response To / Living Up To
• ～も～ば～も — Both This And That
• ～ことは～が — True, But…
• ～つつ — While / Even Though
• ～というと／といえば／といったら — Speaking Of
• にかかわらず — Regardless Of / Irrespective Of
• にせよ〜にせよ — Whichever the Case
• ～のみならず — Not Only, But Also