Animal Names in Japanese

Animals always deliver as a nice topic of conversation to get some small talk going. Watching cat videos in Japanese is just one of many more reasons to learn all basic animal names in Japanese. For even more animals, take a look at our learning resources for Japanese at the end of the page.

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20 Common Animal Names in Japanese

English	Japanese
dog in Japanese	犬 (inu)
cow in Japanese	牛 (ushi)
pig in Japanese	豚 (buta)
cat in Japanese	猫 (neko)
sheep in Japanese	羊 (hitsuji)
horse in Japanese	馬 (uma)
monkey in Japanese	猿 (saru)
bear in Japanese	熊 (kuma)
fish in Japanese	魚 (sakana)
lion in Japanese	ライオン (raion)
tiger in Japanese	虎 (tora)
elephant in Japanese	象 (zō)
mouse in Japanese	ねずみ (nezumi)
pigeon in Japanese	鳩 (hato)
snail in Japanese	カタツムリ (katatsumuri)
spider in Japanese	蜘蛛 (kumo)
frog in Japanese	カエル (kaeru)
snake in Japanese	ヘビ (hebi)
crocodile in Japanese	ワニ (wani)
tortoise in Japanese	陸亀 (rikugame)

Animal Related Words in Japanese

English	Japanese
animal in Japanese	動物 (dōbutsu)
mammal in Japanese	哺乳類 (honyūrui)
bird in Japanese	鳥 (tori)
insect in Japanese	昆虫 (konchū)
reptile in Japanese	爬虫類 (hachūrui)
zoo in Japanese	動物園 (dōbutsu en)
vet in Japanese	獣医 (jūi)
farm in Japanese	農場 (nōjō)
forest in Japanese	森 (mori)
river in Japanese	川 (kawa)
lake in Japanese	湖 (mizuumi)
desert in Japanese	砂漠 (sabaku)

Mammals in Japanese

English	Japanese
panda in Japanese	パンダ (panda)
giraffe in Japanese	キリン (kirin)
camel in Japanese	らくだ (rakuda)
wolf in Japanese	狼 (ōkami)
zebra in Japanese	シマウマ (shimauma)
polar bear in Japanese	シロクマ (shirokuma)
kangaroo in Japanese	カンガルー (kangarū)
rhino in Japanese	サイ (sai)
leopard in Japanese	ヒョウ (hyō)
cheetah in Japanese	チーター (chītā)
donkey in Japanese	ロバ (roba)
squirrel in Japanese	リス (risu)
bat in Japanese	コウモリ (kōmori)
fox in Japanese	きつね (kitsune)
hedgehog in Japanese	ハリネズミ (harinezumi)
otter in Japanese	かわうそ (kawauso)

Birds in Japanese

English	Japanese
duck in Japanese	鴨 (kamo)
chicken in Japanese	鶏 (niwatori)
goose in Japanese	ガチョウ (gachō)
owl in Japanese	フクロウ (fukurō)
swan in Japanese	白鳥 (hakuchō)
penguin in Japanese	ペンギン (pengin)
ostrich in Japanese	ダチョウ (dachō)
raven in Japanese	カラス (karasu)
pelican in Japanese	ペリカン (perikan)
flamingo in Japanese	フラミンゴ (furamingo)

Insects in Japanese

English	Japanese
fly in Japanese	ハエ (hae)
butterfly in Japanese	蝶 (chō)
bee in Japanese	蜂 (hachi)
mosquito in Japanese	蚊 (ka)
ant in Japanese	アリ (ari)
dragonfly in Japanese	とんぼ (tonbo)
grasshopper in Japanese	バッタ (batta)
caterpillar in Japanese	あおむし (aomushi)
termite in Japanese	シロアリ (shiroari)
ladybird in Japanese	てんとうむし (tentō mushi)

Marine Animals in Japanese

English	Japanese
whale in Japanese	鯨 (kujira)
shark in Japanese	サメ (same)
dolphin in Japanese	イルカ (iruka)
seal in Japanese	アザラシ (azarashi)
jellyfish in Japanese	クラゲ (kurage)
octopus in Japanese	たこ (tako)
turtle in Japanese	亀 (kame)
starfish in Japanese	ヒトデ (hitode)
crab in Japanese	カニ (kani)

Japanese Vocabulary Books

Learn Japanese - Quick / Easy / Efficient

This vocabulary book is a curated Japanese word frequency list with 2000 of the most common Japanese words and phrases. Following the Pareto principle (80/20 rule), this book is built to streamline the learning process by concentrating on the core words and sentence structures. The result is a unique book ideal for driven learners and language hackers.

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Japanese Vocabulary Book

This Japanese vocabulary book contains more than 3000 words and phrases and is organized by topic to make it easier for you to pick what to learn first. It is well suited for learners of all levels who are looking for an extensive resource to improve their vocabulary or are interested in learning vocabularies in one particular area of interest.

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Japanese Flashcards

Japanese Flashcards Online

On our partner platform Flashcardo you can find Japanese flashcards to practice online for free ordered by topics and frequency of use, similar to our two vocabulary books above.

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Printable Japanese Flashcards

With this downloadable product you get all Japanese flashcards available on Flashcardo.com in various formats for you to use. In detail you get 1 EPUB ebook, 2 PDF vocabulary lists and 8 printable flashcard PDFs.

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Animal Names in Japanese

20 Common Animal Names in Japanese

Animal Related Words in Japanese

Mammals in Japanese

Birds in Japanese

Insects in Japanese

Marine Animals in Japanese

Japanese Vocabulary Books

Learn Japanese - Quick / Easy / Efficient

Japanese Vocabulary Book

Japanese Flashcards

Japanese Flashcards Online

Printable Japanese Flashcards

Free Learning Resources