How do you say "black pepper" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "black pepper" is 黒胡椒 (kurokoshō). It is a noun.

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of black pepper from Noun Town

Pronunciation

黒胡椒 is written in kanji. Romanised as kurokoshō, it sounds roughly like "koo-roh-koh-shoh" to an English ear.

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Questions about 黒胡椒

How do you pronounce 黒胡椒?

黒胡椒 is romanised as kurokoshō. Say it roughly like "koo-roh-koh-shoh" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 黒胡椒 formal or casual?

黒胡椒 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 黒胡椒 written in Japanese?

黒胡椒 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.