Japanese Food Vocabulary: 100+ Words for Meals and Drinks

If you want to talk about meals, shopping, or restaurant menus in Japanese, the first word to remember is tabemono (食べ物), which means “food.” You will also see shokuji (食事) for “meal” and ryōri (料理) for “dish” or “cuisine”.

The useful detail is that Japanese food vocabulary mixes native words such as gohan and shōyu with loanwords written in katakana, such as パン (pan) and コーヒー (kōhī). Once you notice that pattern, menus and ingredient lists become much easier to read.

Below you will find a practical list of Japanese food words organized by category, plus a few notes that help you understand how these terms are actually used in daily life.

Contents 12

How to Say Food in Japanese

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning
食べ物	tabemono	food
食事	shokuji	meal
料理	ryōri	dish, cuisine, cooking
朝ご飯	asagohan	breakfast
昼ご飯	hirugohan	lunch
晩ご飯	bangohan	dinner

One word worth keeping in mind is gohan (ご飯). It can mean cooked rice, but in conversation it can also mean a meal, depending on the sentence.

Fruits in Japanese

Kudamono (果物) is the general word for fruit. On menus and in supermarkets, you will often see a mix of kanji, hiragana, and katakana in the same section.

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
りんご	ringo	apple
ぶどう	budō	grapes
なし	nashi	Japanese pear
ようなし	yōnashi	Western pear
かき	kaki	persimmon
オレンジ	orenji	orange
レモン	remon	lemon
ライム	raimu	lime
グレープフルーツ	gurēpufurūtsu	grapefruit
バナナ	banana	banana
いちご	ichigo	strawberry
ブルーベリー	burūberī	blueberry
さくらんぼ	sakuranbo	cherry
メロン	meron	melon
すいか	suika	watermelon

A useful cultural note: fruit in Japan is not always treated as a casual side item. Seasonal fruit and gift-quality fruit can carry far more prestige than many learners expect.

Vegetables in Japanese

The basic word for vegetables is yasai (野菜). You will hear some native words often, but many everyday items also appear in katakana.

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
にんじん	ninjin	carrot
セロリ	serori	celery
レタス	retasu	lettuce
キャベツ	kyabetsu	cabbage
トマト	tomato	tomato
ねぎ	negi	green onion
たまねぎ	tamanegi	onion
じゃがいも	jagaimo	potato
ブロッコリー	burokkorī	broccoli
ピーマン	pīman	green bell pepper
まめ	mame	beans
コーン	kōn	corn
大根	daikon	Japanese radish

If you want to go beyond the basics, learn a few ingredients that appear all the time in home cooking, such as daikon, negi, and shōga.

Meat and Seafood in Japanese

Japanese menus often split meat and seafood naturally. Knowing these words makes it easier to read izakaya menus, sushi menus, and everyday lunch sets.

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
牛肉	gyūniku	beef
豚肉	butaniku	pork
鶏肉	toriniku	chicken meat
ハム	hamu	ham
卵	tamago	egg
魚	sakana	fish
エビ	ebi	shrimp
カニ	kani	crab
イカ	ika	squid
たこ	tako	octopus

The pattern is easy to spot once you know it: niku means meat, so gyūniku is beef and butaniku is pork. That same logic helps when you start reading ingredient labels.

Rice, Noodles and Other Staples

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
米	kome	uncooked rice
ご飯	gohan	cooked rice, meal
玄米	genmai	brown rice
うどん	udon	thick wheat noodles
そうめん	sōmen	thin wheat noodles
そば	soba	buckwheat noodles
ラーメン	rāmen	ramen
パン	pan	bread
菓子パン	kashipan	sweet bread, pastry bread
ピザ	piza	pizza

If you want a deeper look at how rice vocabulary changes by context, read our guide to Japanese rice and the word gohan. It helps explain why one word can mean both a staple ingredient and a full meal.

Drinks in Japanese

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
水	mizu	water
お茶	ocha	tea
日本茶	nihoncha	Japanese tea
麦茶	mugicha	barley tea
紅茶	kōcha	black tea
コーヒー	kōhī	coffee
ジュース	jūsu	juice
レモネード	remonēdo	lemonade
ソーダ	sōda	soda
お酒	osake	alcohol, sake in casual use
日本酒	nihonshu	Japanese sake
ワイン	wain	wine
ビール	bīru	beer

When you see osake in casual conversation, people may simply mean alcohol in general, not only Japanese rice wine. That small nuance saves a lot of confusion.

Condiments and Seasonings in Japanese

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
醤油	shōyu	soy sauce
油	abura	oil
酢	su	vinegar
味醂	mirin	mirin
塩	shio	salt
胡椒	koshō	pepper
砂糖	satō	sugar
わさび	wasabi	wasabi
ごま	goma	sesame
バター	batā	butter
ケチャップ	kechappu	ketchup

If you cook at home, this is one of the most useful groups to memorize. We have a separate article on Japanese spices and condiments if you want more detail about how these ingredients are used.

Popular Japanese Dishes

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
寿司	sushi	sushi
刺身	sashimi	sliced raw fish
天ぷら	tenpura	tempura
焼き鳥	yakitori	grilled chicken skewers
焼肉	yakiniku	grilled meat, Japanese barbecue
焼き魚	yakizakana	grilled fish
焼きそば	yakisoba	fried noodles
すき焼き	sukiyaki	hot pot dish
お好み焼き	okonomiyaki	savory pancake
とんかつ	tonkatsu	breaded pork cutlet
カレー	karē	Japanese curry
コロッケ	korokke	croquette
餃子	gyōza	dumplings
味噌汁	misoshiru	miso soup
漬物	tsukemono	pickles

If your goal is restaurant vocabulary rather than ingredient vocabulary, this is the group to study first. It also pairs well with our list of popular Japanese foods in Japan.

Western Food Words Used in Japanese

Japanese also borrows a lot of food vocabulary from other languages. These words are normally written in katakana, so they are useful for beginners who want quick wins when reading a menu.

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
スープ	sūpu	soup
サラダ	sarada	salad
サンドイッチ	sandoitchi	sandwich
ハンバーガー	hanbāgā	hamburger
ホットドッグ	hottodoggu	hot dog
フライドポテト	furaido poteto	French fries
フライドチキン	furaido chikin	fried chicken
ステーキ	sutēki	steak
スパゲッティ	supagetti	spaghetti

These loanwords do not always sound exactly like English, so reading them aloud once or twice is worth the effort.

Snacks and Sweets in Japanese

Japanese	Romaji	Translation
チップス	chippusu	potato chips
ポップコーン	poppukōn	popcorn
クッキー	kukkī	cookies
ケーキ	kēki	cake
パイ	pai	pie
アイスクリーム	aisukurīmu	ice cream
チョコレート	chokorēto	chocolate
ゼリー	zerī	jelly
和菓子	wagashi	traditional Japanese sweets

Wagashi is a good example of a word that says more than a direct translation. It refers to traditional Japanese sweets as a category, not just one dessert.

Video: Learn Food and Drink Vocabulary in Japanese

If you want to hear the pronunciation instead of only memorizing tables, this lesson is a good companion to the list above.

Foods and Drinks in Japanese vocabulary lesson

Final Tip for Memorizing Japanese Food Words

Do not try to memorize every word at once. Start with the categories you actually use, such as drinks, rice, meat, or common dishes, then expand into ingredients and sweets. If you study with real menus, supermarket labels, or cooking videos, these words stick much faster.