How do you say "western food" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "western food" is 洋食 (yōshoku). It is a noun pronounced "yoh-shoh-koo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of western food from Noun Town

Pronunciation

洋食 is written in kanji. Romanised as yōshoku, it sounds roughly like "yoh-shoh-koo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

洋食を使います。

Yōshoku wo tsukaimasu.

I use the western food.

Usage notes

Yōshoku (洋食) is the Japanese word for western food. This noun appears in everyday contexts across homes, offices, schools, and public spaces.

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Questions about 洋食

How do you pronounce 洋食?

洋食 is romanised as yōshoku. Say it roughly like "yoh-shoh-koo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 洋食 formal or casual?

洋食 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 洋食 written in Japanese?

洋食 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.