How do you say "catfish" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "catfish" is ナマズ (namazu). It is a noun.

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of catfish from Noun Town

Pronunciation

ナマズ is written in katakana. Romanised as namazu, it sounds roughly like "nah-mah-zoo" to an English ear.

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Questions about ナマズ

How do you pronounce ナマズ?

ナマズ is romanised as namazu. Say it roughly like "nah-mah-zoo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is ナマズ formal or casual?

ナマズ 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 ナマズ written in Japanese?

ナマズ 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.