How do you say "pork" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "pork" is 豚肉 (butaniku). It is a noun pronounced "boo-tah-nee-koo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of pork from Noun Town

Pronunciation

豚肉 is written in kanji. Romanised as butaniku, it sounds roughly like "boo-tah-nee-koo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

豚肉が好きです。毎日食べます。

Butaniku ga suki desu. Mainichi tabemasu.

I love pork. I eat it every day.

Usage notes

Butaniku (豚肉) is the Japanese word for pork. Food vocabulary is among the most practical for daily life in Japan and is used constantly in markets, restaurants, and home cooking.

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Questions about 豚肉

How do you pronounce 豚肉?

豚肉 is romanised as butaniku. Say it roughly like "boo-tah-nee-koo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 豚肉 formal or casual?

豚肉 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 豚肉 written in Japanese?

豚肉 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.