How do you say "fireman" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "fireman" is 消防士 (shōbōshi). It is a noun pronounced "shoh-boh-shee".

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Illustration of fireman from Noun Town

Pronunciation

消防士 is written in kanji. Romanised as shōbōshi, it sounds roughly like "shoh-boh-shee" to an English ear.

Example sentence

その消防士は長年の経験があります。

Sono shōbōshi wa naganen no keiken ga arimasu.

That fireman has many years of experience.

Usage notes

Shōbōshi (消防士) is the Japanese word for fireman. Job titles in Japanese use a variety of endings: shi (士) for licensed professionals, sha (者) for workers, while modern roles often use katakana loanwords.

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Questions about 消防士

How do you pronounce 消防士?

消防士 is romanised as shōbōshi. Say it roughly like "shoh-boh-shee" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 消防士 formal or casual?

消防士 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 消防士 written in Japanese?

消防士 is written using kanji. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

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.