How do you say "money" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "money" is お金 (okane). It is a noun pronounced "oh-kah-neh".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of money from Noun Town

Pronunciation

お金 is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as okane, it sounds roughly like "oh-kah-neh" to an English ear.

Example sentence

そのお金はとても便利です。

Sono Okane wa totemo benri desu.

That money is very useful.

Usage notes

Okane (お金) is the Japanese word for money. This noun appears in everyday contexts across homes, offices, schools, and public spaces.

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Questions about お金

How do you pronounce お金?

お金 is romanised as okane. Say it roughly like "oh-kah-neh" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is お金 formal or casual?

お金 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 お金 written in Japanese?

お金 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.