How do you say "sneakers" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "sneakers" is 運動靴 (undōkutsu). It is a noun pronounced "oo-n-doh-koo-tsoo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of sneakers from Noun Town

Pronunciation

運動靴 is written in kanji. Romanised as undōkutsu, it sounds roughly like "oo-n-doh-koo-tsoo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

その運動靴はとても便利です。

Sono Undōkutsu wa totemo benri desu.

That trainers is very useful.

Usage notes

Undōkutsu (運動靴) is the Japanese word for trainers. This noun appears in everyday contexts across homes, offices, schools, and public spaces.

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Questions about 運動靴

How do you pronounce 運動靴?

運動靴 is romanised as undōkutsu. Say it roughly like "oo-n-doh-koo-tsoo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 運動靴 formal or casual?

運動靴 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 運動靴 written in Japanese?

運動靴 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.