How do you say "ambulance" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "ambulance" is 救急車 (kyūkyūsha). It is a noun pronounced "kyoo-kyoo-shah".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

救急車 is written in kanji. Romanised as kyūkyūsha, it sounds roughly like "kyoo-kyoo-shah" to an English ear.

Example sentence

子供たちは救急車の周りで遊んでいます。

Kodomotachi wa Kyūkyūsha no mawari de asonde imasu.

The children are playing around the ambulance.

Usage notes

Kyūkyūsha (救急車) means ambulance in Japanese. This noun describes a feature or object found in indoor or outdoor environments.

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Questions about 救急車

How do you pronounce 救急車?

救急車 is romanised as kyūkyūsha. Say it roughly like "kyoo-kyoo-shah" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 救急車 formal or casual?

救急車 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 救急車 written in Japanese?

救急車 is written using kanji. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.