Names and Types of Meat and Fish in Japanese

Order yakiniku and the menu turns into a puzzle of short Japanese cuts: harami, karubi, momo. At the fish market the same thing happens with maguro, saba, and hotate. Learning the meat and fish vocabulary is less about memorizing a dictionary and more about reading what is actually on the plate, the package, and the chalkboard.

This guide gathers the everyday Japanese names for meat, common cuts, classic meat dishes, and the fish and seafood you meet in supermarkets and restaurants. It is not every cut in Japan — that list would never end — but it is enough to order with confidence and understand labels without guessing.

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Names of meats in Japanese

Start with the umbrella word 肉 (niku), “meat.” In daily speech, bare niku often points to beef, even though pork is cheaper and very common. For chicken, people usually say とり (tori) more than the full 鶏肉 (toriniku). So “chicken breast” becomes simply とりのむね (tori no mune).

The table below mixes basic meats, supermarket cuts, butcher terms, and a few processed items. Japanese labeling often uses short names that work across beef, pork, and chicken — context tells you which animal you are looking at.

Responsive table: Scroll sideways with your finger >>

English	Japanese	Romaji
Meat	肉	niku
Beef	牛肉	gyuuniku
Pork	豚肉	butaniku
Chicken / poultry	鶏肉	toriniku
Lamb / mutton	羊肉	hitsujiniku
Turkey	七面鳥	shichimenchou
Wagyu (Japanese cattle)	和牛	wagyuu
Types of meat	肉類	nikurui
Butcher / meat shop	肉屋	nikuya
Ground meat	ひき肉	hikiniku
Thinly sliced meat	薄切り肉	usugiriniku
Thick-cut meat	厚切り肉	atsugiriniku
Shredded / julienned meat	細切り肉	hosogiriniku
Meatball	肉団子	nikudango
Bacon	ベーコン	beekon
Ham	ハム	hamu
Sausage	ソーセージ	sooseeji
Salami	サラミ	sarami
Beefsteak	ビーフステーキ	biifusuteeki
Chuck / shoulder loin	肩ロース	kata roosu
Shoulder	肩肉	kataniku
Short plate / belly side	ともばら	tomobara
Rib / belly strip	バラ	bara
Pork belly	豚バラ	butabara
Bone-in short rib	骨付バラ肉	honetsuki baraniku
Ribs	あばら肉	abaraniku
Ribeye / rib loin	リブロース	riburoosu
Sirloin	サーロイン	saaroin
Loin	ロース	roosu
Filet / tenderloin	ヒレ	hire
Rump	ランプ	ranpu
Rump cap (ichibo)	イチボ	ichibo
Outside skirt / diaphragm	ハラミ	harami
Blade / flat iron area	ミスジ	misuji
Thigh / round	もも	momo
Inner thigh	内もも	uchimomo
Outer thigh	外もも	sotomomo
Chicken thigh	鶏もも肉	tori momoniku
Chicken breast	鶏むね肉	tori muneniku
Chicken tender / white meat	ささみ	sasami
Chicken wings (tips)	手羽先	tebasaki
Chicken heart	ハツ	hatsu
Liver	レバー	rebaa
Shank / shin	すね肉	suneniku
Beef tendon	牛すじ	gyuusuji
Neck	ネック	nekku
Tail	テール	teeru
Pork trotter	豚足	tonsoku
Pork cutlet (dish cut)	豚カツ	tonkatsu
Heel of round (yakiniku “tonbi”)	トンビ	tonbi

At the counter, short labels do a lot of work. バラ (bara) is the fatty belly strip prized for yakiniku; ハラミ (harami) is the flavorful outside skirt; ヒレ (hire) is tenderloin. For chicken, むね is breast, もも is thigh, and ささみ is the lean tender. We also recommend reading about wagyu and Kobe beef and about yakitori chicken skewers.

Main meat dishes in Japanese

Beyond raw ingredients, menus name whole cooking styles. Knowing these dish words helps you move from “I want beef” to “I want thin slices for shabu-shabu” or “I want a grilled yakitori set.” For culture and prices around meat in Japan, see also our article on meat in Japan.

Responsive table: Scroll sideways with your finger >>

English	Japanese	Romaji
Grilled meat (yakiniku)	焼肉	yakiniku
Sukiyaki	すき焼き	sukiyaki
Shabu-shabu	しゃぶしゃぶ	shabushabu
Beef rice bowl	牛丼	gyuudon
Yakitori	焼き鳥	yakitori
Ginger-grilled pork	生姜焼き	shougayaki
Karaage (Japanese fried chicken)	から揚げ	karaage
Steak	ステーキ	suteeki
Roast beef	ローストビーフ	roosutobiifu
Hamburg steak	ハンバーグ	hanbaagu
Meatloaf	ミートローフ	miitoroofu
Tartare	タルタルステーキ	tarutaru suteeki
Horse sashimi	馬刺し	basashi
Yukhoe (Korean-style raw beef)	ユッケ	yukke
Carpaccio	カルパッチョ	karupaccho
Genghis Khan (grilled mutton)	ジンギスカン	jingisukan
Bulgogi	プルコギ	purukogi
Samgyeopsal (pork belly BBQ)	サムギョプサル	samugyopusaru
Curry dishes	カレー料理	karee ryouri
Fried chicken (Western style)	フライドチキン	furaido chikin

Names of fish and seafood in Japanese

Fish is 魚 (sakana). Broader seafood is often 魚介類 (gyokairui) or the loanword シーフード (shiifuudo). Japan eats hundreds of species, so menus and sushi lists jump between kanji, hiragana, and katakana. The same fish can also change name by cut — for example tuna as maguro, with fatty belly called toro.

Below is a practical set of fish, shellfish, and other seafood names you will actually see at markets, conveyor-belt sushi, and izakaya. For a deeper dive into fish vocabulary and popular species, continue with our guides on fish in the Japanese language and the most consumed fish in Japan.

Responsive table: Scroll sideways with your finger >>

English	Japanese	Romaji
Fish	魚	sakana
Seafood	魚介類	gyokairui
Seafood (loanword)	シーフード	shiifuudo
Shellfish (general)	貝	kai
Tuna	鮪 / マグロ	maguro
Canned / Western-style tuna	ツナ	tsuna
Salmon	鮭	sake
Salmon (loanword)	サーモン	saamon
Skipjack tuna	かつお	katsuo
Dried skipjack flakes	鰹節	katsuobushi
Mackerel	鯖	saba
Sardine	鰯	iwashi
True sardine	マイワシ	maiwashi
Yellowtail / young amberjack	はまち	hamachi
Sea bream / red snapper family	鯛	tai
Cod	鱈 / タラ	tara
Flounder / flatfish	カレイ	karei
Eel (freshwater)	鰻	unagi
Shrimp / prawn	海老 / えび	ebi
Crab	蟹 / かに	kani
Lobster	ロブスター	robusutaa
Squid	烏賊 / いか	ika
Octopus	蛸 / たこ	tako
Oyster	カキ	kaki
Scallop	ほたて / 帆立	hotate
Mussel	ムール貝 / いがい	muuru-gai / igai
Sea urchin	ウニ	uni
Jellyfish	クラゲ	kurage
Shark	鮫	same
Carp	鯉	koi
Goldfish	金魚	kingyo
Pufferfish (fugu)	ふぐ	fugu

Two reading tips save confusion on menus. 鮭 can be read sake or shake depending on region and shop, and the katakana サーモン is common for sushi-counter salmon. えび covers shrimp and prawns broadly; fried versions often appear as エビフライ. If you are curious about the careful, high-stakes side of seafood culture, read about fugu, the pufferfish.

How to use these words in Japan

In a supermarket, look for origin labels: 国産 (kokusan) means domestic, while 輸入 (yunyuu) means imported. Ground meat is split as 牛ひき肉, 豚ひき肉, 鶏ひき肉, and mixed 合いびき肉. At yakiniku, order by cut name; at sushi, order by fish name. The tables above are meant to be used that way — as a pocket map for real counters, not as a complete encyclopedia of every living creature in the sea.

Keep this page open when you study menus, pack for a trip, or review vocabulary for Japanese class. The useful skill is pairing sound, script, and plate: once niku, sakana, toro, and tebasaki stick, the rest of the board starts to make sense.