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Japanese food and drink vocabulary with audio and mnemonics

Start with 7 food and drink words from our free first chapter. Listen before using the romanization as a shortcut.

The course uses hiragana spellings to practise reading. Tomato is usually written トマト in everyday Japanese; とまと below is its hiragana reading.

やさい (yasai) is vegetable; なす (nasu) names eggplant. さかな (sakana) means fish, including fish discussed as food.

Listen and learn the words

すし · sushi

sushi

Picture and sound mnemonic
Steaming SOUP splashes a dancing woman as SHE spins and lands face-first into a giant roll of SUSHI.
Steaming Soup splashes a dancing woman as She spins and lands face-first into a giant roll of Sushi.

す (su) → Soup + し (shi) → She

なす · eggplant

nasu

Picture and sound mnemonic
The walking NACHOS jump directly into the giant SOUP to escape a massive, angry EGGPLANT chasing them.
The walking Nachos jump directly into the giant Soup to escape a massive, angry Eggplant chasing them.

な (na) → Nachos + す (su) → Soup

まめ · bean

mame

Picture and sound mnemonic
A smiling open-mouthed baby emerges from a large cut melon holding a green bean.
A baby calling Ma emerges from a giant Melon holding a giant Bean.

ま (ma) → Ma + め (me) → Melon

とまと · tomato

tomato

Picture and sound mnemonic
One enlarged bandaged red-tipped toe touches a calling baby's hand. The baby kicks a second distinct bandaged toe into a tomato, squashing it. One baby with two arms and two legs.
A giant Toe tickles a baby calling Ma, who kicks a second Toe so hard it squashes a Tomato.

と (to) → Toe + ま (ma) → Ma + と (to) → Toe

やさい · vegetable

yasai

Picture and sound mnemonic
A karate red panda shouts YAH! and kicks SALSA onto an EAGLE nesting inside a giant VEGETABLE.
A karate red panda shouts Yah! and kicks Salsa onto an Eagle nesting inside a giant Vegetable.

や (ya) → Yah + さ (sa) → Salsa + い (i) → Eagle

さかな · fish

sakana

Picture and sound mnemonic
A blue salsa bowl pours over a small red car. Walking nachos sit on its horn and a large orange fish gapes beside its bumper.
Salsa spills over a Car loaded with walking Nachos, and a Fish leaps up, mouth wide, to catch the drips.

さ (sa) → Salsa + か (ka) → Car + な (na) → Nachos

みず · water

mizu

Picture and sound mnemonic
A blazing METEOR crashes into a giant ZUCCHINI, cracking it open to unleash a torrential geyser of fresh WATER.
A blazing Meteor crashes into a giant Zucchini, cracking it open to unleash a torrential geyser of fresh Water.

み (mi) → Meteor + ず (zu) → Zucchini

Use a picture, then check recall

Read one picture and follow the sound cues in order. Close it, say the word and recall its meaning. A cue is an approximate memory hook; the recording supplies the pronunciation.

Test these words

Choose a mode and a group. Each round has up to ten questions. Wrong answers go into a retry round.

Try these questions, then open the answers. The interactive version needs JavaScript.

  1. What does すし mean?
    Answer and explanation

    sushi — すし (sushi) — sushi. Steaming SOUP splashes a dancing woman as SHE spins and lands face-first into a giant roll of SUSHI.

  2. What does なす mean?
    Answer and explanation

    eggplant — なす (nasu) — eggplant. The walking NACHOS jump directly into the giant SOUP to escape a massive, angry EGGPLANT chasing them.

  3. What does まめ mean?
    Answer and explanation

    bean — まめ (mame) — bean. A baby calling MA emerges from a giant MELON holding a giant BEAN.

  4. What does とまと mean?
    Answer and explanation

    tomato — とまと (tomato) — tomato. A giant TOE tickles a baby calling MA, who kicks a second TOE so hard it squashes a TOMATO.

  5. What does やさい mean?
    Answer and explanation

    vegetable — やさい (yasai) — vegetable. A karate red panda shouts YAH! and kicks SALSA onto an EAGLE nesting inside a giant VEGETABLE.

  6. What does さかな mean?
    Answer and explanation

    fish — さかな (sakana) — fish. SALSA spills over a CAR loaded with walking NACHOS, and a FISH leaps up, mouth wide, to catch the drips.

  7. What does みず mean?
    Answer and explanation

    water — みず (mizu) — water. A blazing METEOR crashes into a giant ZUCCHINI, cracking it open to unleash a torrential geyser of fresh WATER.

Next: Japanese reading practice · Animal vocabulary

Written by Remlori using examples and media from our beginner course. Alphabet reference: The Japan Foundation, Irodori Starter. Romanization approximates the sound; use the recordings when practising.

Learn your first sounds, words and sentences. Lesson 1 needs no account.

Start Japanese Lesson 1