Japanese Words Used in English: 40 Loanwords Explained
🇯🇵 Japanese · 40 cards · A2 · by Haruka Sato
You already know more Japanese than you think. This deck takes forty words English has borrowed — sushi, ramen, karaoke, tsunami, sensei — and gives you each one in kanji, kana and romaji, because at the start you need all three.
The sounds are the easy part: give every vowel its full value and keep the long ones long. The meanings are where people slip. In Japanese, アニメ is any cartoon, 酒 is any alcohol, a 布団 is bedding you lay on the floor and put away in the morning, and 禅 is a school of Buddhism, not a mood. Read the note on every card — that is where the real learning is.
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How to use this deck
Flip through the cards, then switch to Quiz. Tap the play button on any row to hear it. The full table below is there to read, print or copy into your own flashcard app.
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All 40 cards
| # | Japanese | Pronunciation | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 寿司（すし） Also written すし or お寿司 on shop signs. The す becomes ず in compounds: 回転寿司 (kaitenzushi). | sushi | sushi | 今夜は回転寿司に行きませんか。 Shall we go to a conveyor-belt sushi place tonight? | |
| 2 | ラーメン Four beats: ra-a-me-n. Hold the first vowel long and keep the beats even - not 'rah-MEN'. Written in katakana because it came from Chinese. | rāmen | ramen | このラーメン、スープが濃いね。 This ramen has a rich broth, doesn't it. | |
| 3 | うどん うどん already means the noodles, so 'udon noodles' is redundant in Japanese. | udon | udon (thick wheat noodles) | 風邪の時は温かいうどんが食べたい。 When I have a cold I want warm udon. | |
| 4 | 豆腐（とうふ） Long first vowel: to-o-fu. 豆 = bean, 腐 = fermented/curdled. | tōfu | tofu | 豆腐は冷蔵庫に入れておいたよ。 I put the tofu in the fridge. | |
| 5 | 味噌（みそ） Two short beats, mi-so, with no heavy stress. The soup is 味噌汁 (misoshiru). | miso | miso (fermented soybean paste) | 毎朝、味噌汁を飲みます。 I drink miso soup every morning. | |
| 6 | 醤油（しょうゆ） English 'soy' came from this word via Dutch. At the table people usually say お醤油 with the polite お. | shōyu | soy sauce | お醤油、取ってくれる？ Can you pass me the soy sauce? | |
| 7 | わさび The kanji 山葵 exists but is rarely used. Three equal beats: wa-sa-bi, no stressed syllable. | wasabi | wasabi | わさびは少しだけで十分です。 Just a little wasabi is enough. | |
| 8 | 抹茶（まっちゃ） The small っ means you hold a beat before the ch: mat-cha. Ordinary leaf green tea is 緑茶 (ryokucha), not matcha. | matcha | matcha (powdered green tea) | 抹茶アイスが大好きなんです。 I really love matcha ice cream. | |
| 9 | 弁当（べんとう） Long final vowel: ben-to-o. Any boxed meal counts, including the ones sold at convenience stores (コンビニ弁当). | bentō | bento, packed lunch box | 明日の弁当、何にしよう。 What should I make for tomorrow's bento? | |
| 10 | 天ぷら（てんぷら） ん before p sounds like m, which is why English spells it 'tempura'; the kana-based romanisation is tenpura. Thought to come from Portuguese. | tenpura | tempura | エビの天ぷらをもう一つください。 One more prawn tempura, please. | |
| 11 | 枝豆（えだまめ） Literally 'branch bean'. Four short beats: e-da-ma-me. | edamame | edamame (green soybeans) | ビールと枝豆があれば幸せ。 Beer and edamame - that's happiness. | |
| 12 | 照り焼き（てりやき） In Japan it is a cooking method (glaze and grill), not a bottled sauce. 照り = shine, 焼き = grilling. | teriyaki | teriyaki | 今日の夕飯は鶏の照り焼きです。 Tonight's dinner is chicken teriyaki. | |
| 13 | パン粉（パンこ） パン (pan, bread) came from Portuguese pão, so it stays in katakana; 粉 (ko) means powder or crumbs. | panko | panko, breadcrumbs | パン粉をつけて揚げると美味しいよ。 It's delicious if you coat it in panko and fry it. | |
| 14 | 酒（さけ） Important: 酒 means alcohol in general. The rice wine English calls 'sake' is 日本酒 (nihonshu). Say sa-ke, not 'sah-kee'. | sake | alcohol; sake | 父は酒が強い。 My father can hold his drink. | |
| 15 | カラオケ From 空 (kara, empty) + オーケストラ (ōkesutora, orchestra). Four even beats: ka-ra-o-ke. | karaoke | karaoke | 金曜はみんなでカラオケに行った。 On Friday we all went to karaoke. | |
| 16 | 漫画（まんが） In Japanese it covers comics in general, foreign ones included. Also written マンガ or まんが. | manga | manga, comic | この漫画、全巻持ってる。 I own every volume of this manga. | |
| 17 | アニメ In Japanese this means any animation - Disney films are アニメ too. Three beats: a-ni-me, final e pronounced. | anime | animation, anime | 子どもの頃からアニメが好きです。 I've liked anime since I was a child. | |
| 18 | 絵文字（えもじ） 絵 = picture, 文字 = character. Nothing to do with English 'emotion'; the resemblance is a coincidence. | emoji | emoji | 最後に絵文字をつけると柔らかくなる。 Adding an emoji at the end softens the message. | |
| 19 | 折り紙（おりがみ） From 折る (oru, to fold) + 紙 (kami, paper). Use the verb 折る for folding it, not 作る. | origami | origami, paper folding | 折り紙で鶴を折れますか。 Can you fold a paper crane? | |
| 20 | 盆栽（ぼんさい） 盆 = tray, 栽 = planting. Say bon-sai; 万歳 (banzai) is a completely different word. | bonsai | bonsai | 祖父は盆栽の世話をしている。 My grandfather looks after bonsai. | |
| 21 | 俳句（はいく） Japanese counts morae (音・拍), not English-style syllables, so 'seventeen syllables' is only an approximation. | haiku | haiku | 俳句は十七音で作ります。 A haiku is made of seventeen sound units. | |
| 22 | 数独（すうどく） Coined as a shortening of 数字は独身に限る. Long first vowel: su-u-do-ku. The verb is 解く (toku, to solve). | sūdoku | sudoku | 電車の中で数独を解いていた。 I was doing sudoku on the train. | |
| 23 | 空手（からて） Literally 'empty hand'. Three even beats: ka-ra-te, and the final e is pronounced 'eh'. | karate | karate | 息子は空手を習っています。 My son is learning karate. | |
| 24 | 柔道（じゅうどう） Both vowels are long: ju-u-do-o. 柔 = gentle, 道 = way. | jūdō | judo | 柔道の練習は週三回です。 Judo practice is three times a week. | |
| 25 | 相撲（すもう） The second vowel is long: su-mo-o. A wrestler is 力士 (rikishi) or 相撲取り (sumōtori) - you cannot call a person 'a sumo'. | sumō | sumo | 日曜に相撲を見に行った。 I went to watch sumo on Sunday. | |
| 26 | 忍者（にんじゃ） Historically also called 忍び (shinobi). Japanese has no plural, so 忍者 covers one or a hundred. | ninja | ninja | この町には忍者の博物館がある。 There's a ninja museum in this town. | |
| 27 | 侍（さむらい） 武士 (bushi) is the broader historical term; 侍 originally meant one who serves a lord. | samurai | samurai | 侍の映画を字幕で見た。 I watched a samurai film with subtitles. | |
| 28 | 道場（どうじょう） Both vowels long: do-o-jo-o. Used for martial arts halls and, figuratively, any place of hard training. | dōjō | dojo, training hall | 道場では靴を脱ぎます。 You take your shoes off in the dojo. | |
| 29 | 着物（きもの） Literally 'thing to wear'. The sash is the 帯 (obi); the casual summer version is a 浴衣 (yukata). | kimono | kimono | 成人式で着物を着ました。 I wore a kimono at my coming-of-age ceremony. | |
| 30 | 布団（ふとん） Not a sofa bed. A 布団 is the mattress (敷き布団) and quilt (掛け布団) laid on the floor and put away in the morning. | futon | futon (Japanese bedding) | 布団を敷いて寝ます。 I lay out the futon and sleep. | |
| 31 | 畳（たたみ） The same kanji is the counter for room size, read -jō: 六畳 (rokujō) is a six-mat room. | tatami | tatami (straw floor mat) | この部屋は六畳です。 This room is six tatami mats in size. | |
| 32 | 津波（つなみ） 津 = harbour, 波 = wave. The ts- is a single sound; don't drop the t as English speakers often do. | tsunami | tsunami | 地震の後、津波の警報が出た。 A tsunami warning was issued after the earthquake. | |
| 33 | 台風（たいふう） Long final vowel: tai-fu-u. Typhoons are numbered in Japan: 台風10号 (taifū jūgō, typhoon No. 10). | taifū | typhoon | 台風で電車が止まっている。 The trains are stopped because of the typhoon. | |
| 34 | 神風（かみかぜ） Sensitive word. Originally the 'divine wind' that wrecked the Mongol fleet; in Japanese it points straight to WWII, so the English sense of 'reckless' does not work. | kamikaze | kamikaze; divine wind | 歴史の授業で神風特攻隊を習った。 We studied the kamikaze units in history class. | |
| 35 | 先生（せんせい） A title of respect for teachers, doctors, lawyers and authors. Used after a surname (佐藤先生) and never about yourself. | sensei | teacher; doctor (title) | 先生、質問があります。 Sensei, I have a question. | |
| 36 | 先輩（せんぱい） The opposite is 後輩 (kōhai). Romanised senpai from the kana, but ん before p is pronounced like m: 'sempai'. | senpai | senior (at school or work) | 先輩がおごってくれた。 My senpai paid for me. | |
| 37 | 禅（ぜん） A school of Buddhism, not an adjective. 'A very zen room' makes no sense in Japanese - say 静か (shizuka, quiet) or 落ち着く (ochitsuku, calming). | zen | Zen (Buddhism) | 週末に禅寺で座禅をした。 I did seated meditation at a Zen temple at the weekend. | |
| 38 | 旨味（うまみ） From 旨い (umai, tasty). Usually written うま味 or うまみ on food packaging. | umami | umami, savoury depth of taste | このスープは旨味がすごい。 This soup has amazing umami. | |
| 39 | オタク Can sound rude used of another person. In compounds like 鉄道オタク or 映画オタク it is normal and often affectionate. | otaku | obsessive fan, geek | 彼は鉄道オタクです。 He's a train geek. | |
| 40 | 過労死（かろうし） Long second vowel: ka-ro-o-shi. A legal and news term in Japan, not slang - use it carefully. | karōshi | karoshi, death from overwork | 過労死をなくす対策が必要だ。 We need measures to eliminate death from overwork. |
Haruka Sato
Native Japanese · Speaks English, Korean
Osaka-born, Tokyo-based. I help English speakers get past hiragana into real conversation. Every card has kanji, kana and romaji, because you need all three at the start.
Published
Questions about this deck
- Which of these words mean something different in Japanese?
- Several. 酒 (sake) is any alcohol - the rice wine is 日本酒. アニメ (anime) is all animation, Disney included. 布団 (futon) is floor bedding, not a sofa bed. 禅 (zen) is a Buddhist school, never an adjective for 'calm'. 照り焼き (teriyaki) is a glaze-and-grill method, not a bottled sauce. 神風 (kamikaze) points to the WWII units, so it cannot mean 'reckless'.
- How do I pronounce these words like a Japanese speaker?
- Give every vowel its full value and keep long vowels long: ka-ra-te (not 'ka-RAH-tee'), sa-ke (not 'sah-kee'), ka-ra-o-ke in four even beats, ra-a-me-n and ju-u-do-o with the long vowels held, and つ in 津波 as a single ts sound. Japanese has no strong word stress, so keep the beats even instead of hitting one syllable hard.
- Why are some of these written in katakana and others in kanji?
- Katakana marks words felt to come from outside or coined recently: ラーメン from Chinese, カラオケ (part English), アニメ, オタク. Native words and Sino-Japanese compounds take kanji: 寿司, 空手, 津波, 過労死. Some go both ways - 漫画 also appears as マンガ, and 旨味 is usually うま味 on labels.
- Do these words take an English plural, like 'sushis' or 'ninjas'?
- Japanese nouns have no plural form, so 忍者 covers one ninja or a hundred, and the same goes for 寿司, 侍 and 着物. In English the established loanwords do take plurals (kimonos, ninjas, bentos), but when you speak Japanese drop the -s and add a counter if you need a number: 寿司を二つ (sushi o futatsu, two pieces of sushi).
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