How do you say "downtown" in Japanese?

ダウンタウン

dauntaun

Noun Katakana

In Japanese, "downtown" is ダウンタウン (dauntaun).

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Pronunciation

Dah-oon-tah-oon, four syllables stretching 'down' and 'town' into separate vowel sounds each.

Writing and usage

ダウンタウン is written using katakana. 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

彼女は川の近くのダウンタウンで働いている。

kanojo ha kawa no chikaku no dauntaun de hatarai teiru.

She works downtown near the river.

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How to remember ダウンタウン

Dauntaun is downtown pulled apart at the seams — each half gets its own extra vowel, like the city sprawling outward.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about ダウンタウン

How do you pronounce ダウンタウン?

Dah-oon-tah-oon, four syllables stretching 'down' and 'town' into separate vowel sounds each.

Is ダウンタウン formal or casual?

ダウンタウン 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 ダウンタウン written in Japanese?

ダウンタウン is written using katakana. Romanised, it reads as dauntaun.

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.

"Downtown" in other languages

Curated by Jack 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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