How do you say "café" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "café" is カフェ (kafe). It is a noun pronounced "kah-feh".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

カフェ is written in katakana. Romanised as kafe, it sounds roughly like "kah-feh" to an English ear.

Example sentence

このカフェは居心地がよくて好きです。

Kono kafe wa igokochi ga yokute suki desu.

I like this cafe because it is comfortable.

Usage notes

Kafe (カフェ) means cafe. Japan has a strong cafe culture, with traditional kissaten coffee shops and modern themed cafes throughout cities.

Related words

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

Practice カフェ and hundreds more Japanese words in the game.

Buy on Steam

Questions about カフェ

How do you pronounce カフェ?

カフェ is romanised as kafe. Say it roughly like "kah-feh" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is カフェ formal or casual?

カフェ 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 カフェ written in Japanese?

カフェ is written using katakana. Katakana is typically used for words of foreign origin or to give emphasis.

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.