How do you say "firefly" in Japanese?

ホタル

hotaru

Noun Katakana

In Japanese, "firefly" is ホタル (hotaru).

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Pronunciation

Hotaru is hoh-tah-roo, three light even syllables, nothing sharply stressed.

Writing and usage

ホタル 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

夏の闇の中でホタルが輝いていた。

natsu no yami no naka de hotaru ga kagayai teita.

A firefly glowed in the summer dark.

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How to remember ホタル

Picture a firefly blinking out 'hoh, tah, roo' in little flashes across a dark field.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about ホタル

How do you pronounce ホタル?

Hotaru is hoh-tah-roo, three light even syllables, nothing sharply stressed.

Is ホタル formal or casual?

ホタル 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 ホタル written in Japanese?

ホタル is written using katakana. Romanised, it reads as hotaru.

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.

"Firefly" 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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