Japanese words in English

Did you know that there are quite a lot of words in English which are actually Japanese? I didn't realise until today that there are quite so many. You probably know emoji and ninja but did you realise they were Japanese words? Do you know the meaning of tsunami, origami and kamikaze? Keep reading to learn more!

Emoji
A symbol, such as a smiley face, used to communicate, especially on mobile phones and social media. (Plural: emojis or emoji)

Ninja
A Japanese fighter or secret agent, especially from the past, who can move very quickly and quietly. We can also use this word nowadays to mean somebody with amazing skills in something, e.g. "My brother is a computer ninja!"

Samurai
An ancient Japanese warrior.

Origami
The Japanese craft of making things by paper folding.

Tsunami
A giant wave caused by an earthquake.

Judo
A sport where two people fight and try to throw each other to the ground.

Karate
Another fighting sport which includes kicking and punching.

Sumo
Japanese heavyweight wrestling.

Karaoke
An activity which involves singing along to instrumental versions of songs.

Manga
Japanese comic books which tell stories in pictures.

Zen
Relaxed and not worrying about things which you cannot change. In Japan, it is a type of Buddhism but in English we use it as an adjective to describe a relaxed person or attitude.

Futon
A type of Japanese mattress but in the West, a futon is a mattress with a base that can be used either as a bed or as a sofa or chair when folded.

Yakuza
The Japanese mafia.

Haiku
A type of poem which has 17 syllables. There are three lines with five syllables in the first and last line, and seven in the second.

Kimono
A type of traditional dress.

Tofu
A kind of food made from soya beans, often used instead of meat in Asian vegetarian dishes.

Sushi
A kind of food made with cold sticky rice and fish, often raw, or sometimes meat, egg or vegetables.

Sake
A strong alcoholic rice wine.

Tycoon
A successful business person who is rich and powerful.

Geisha
A woman who dresses in traditional Japanese clothes and entertains men with music and dancing.

Kamikaze
This word describes very dangerous or risky actions taken by somebody who doesn't care about safety, or a sudden suicidal attack, like the Japanese pilots in World War II who attacked by crashing their planes, filled with explosives, into enemy targets.

​
Please note that I have described what the words mean to an English person. Sometimes we take words from other languages and change the meaning slightly. For example, I think English and Japanese people have a different understanding of the meaning of "sushi".


If you would like to know how to improve your vocabulary and how to remember new words more easily, this e-book is for you:
​

English Vocabulary Challenge E-book