How do you say "ring" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "ring" is 指環 (yubiwa). It is a noun pronounced "yoo-bee-wah".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of ring from Noun Town

Pronunciation

指環 is written in kanji. Romanised as yubiwa, it sounds roughly like "yoo-bee-wah" to an English ear.

Example sentence

この指環は私には少し大きいです。

Kono Yubiwa wa watashi ni wa sukoshi ookii desu.

This ring is a little big for me.

Usage notes

Yubiwa (指環) means ring in Japanese. Clothing vocabulary is useful for shopping, describing outfits, and understanding fashion-related conversations.

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Questions about 指環

How do you pronounce 指環?

指環 is romanised as yubiwa. Say it roughly like "yoo-bee-wah" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 指環 formal or casual?

指環 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 指環 written in Japanese?

指環 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.