How do you say "hot water" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "hot water" is お湯 (oyu). It is a noun pronounced "oh-yoo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of hot water from Noun Town

Pronunciation

お湯 is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as oyu, it sounds roughly like "oh-yoo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

新しいお湯を買いました。

Atarashii Oyu wo kaimashita.

I bought a new hot water.

Usage notes

Oyu (お湯) is the Japanese word for hot water. This noun appears in everyday contexts across homes, offices, schools, and public spaces.

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Questions about お湯

How do you pronounce お湯?

お湯 is romanised as oyu. Say it roughly like "oh-yoo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is お湯 formal or casual?

お湯 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 お湯 written in Japanese?

お湯 is written using kanji and hiragana. 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.