How do you say "school" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "school" is 学校 (gakkō). It is a noun pronounced "gah-kkoh".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

学校 is written in kanji. Romanised as gakkō, it sounds roughly like "gah-kkoh" to an English ear.

Example sentence

学校は駅から歩いて五分です。

Gakkou wa eki kara aruita go-fun desu.

The school is five minutes walk from the station.

Usage notes

Gakkou (学校) means school. Japan's school year begins in April when cherry blossoms bloom. Schools are central to community life and known for rigorous academic standards.

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Questions about 学校

How do you pronounce 学校?

学校 is romanised as gakkō. Say it roughly like "gah-kkoh" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 学校 formal or casual?

学校 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 学校 written in Japanese?

学校 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.