How do you say "diet" in Japanese?

食事

shokuji

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "diet" is 食事 (shokuji).

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Pronunciation

Say SHOH-koo-jee, two even beats plus a soft final syllable — the 'u' after sh is barely voiced, so it comes out closer to 'shok-ji'.

Writing and usage

食事 is written using kanji. It's a noun, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.

Example sentence

バランスの取れた食事は健康を保ちます。

baransu no tore ta shokuji ha kenkou wo tamochi masu.

A balanced diet keeps you healthy.

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How to remember 食事

Shokuji sounds a bit like 'shock-g', and a bad diet can give your body a shock, while a good one keeps it steady.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 食事

How do you pronounce 食事?

Say SHOH-koo-jee, two even beats plus a soft final syllable — the 'u' after sh is barely voiced, so it comes out closer to 'shok-ji'.

Is 食事 formal or casual?

食事 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 食事 written in Japanese?

食事 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as shokuji.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Diet" in other languages

Curated by Callan Ratcliffe

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. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

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