How do you say "breakfast" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "breakfast" is 朝食 (chōshoku). It is a noun pronounced "choh-shoh-koo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of breakfast from Noun Town

Pronunciation

朝食 is written in kanji. Romanised as chōshoku, it sounds roughly like "choh-shoh-koo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

朝食を一つください。

Chōshoku wo hitotsu kudasai.

One breakfast, please.

Usage notes

Chōshoku (朝食) is the Japanese word for breakfast. Food vocabulary is among the most practical for daily life in Japan and is used constantly in markets, restaurants, and home cooking.

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Questions about 朝食

How do you pronounce 朝食?

朝食 is romanised as chōshoku. Say it roughly like "choh-shoh-koo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 朝食 formal or casual?

朝食 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 朝食 written in Japanese?

朝食 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.