Animals in Japanese: 動物 (dōbutsu)
Animal in Japanese is 動物 (どうぶつ, dōbutsu, “animal”). Dog is 犬 (いぬ, inu, “dog (Canis (lupus) familiaris)”) and cat is 猫 (ねこ, neko, “cat (esp. the domestic cat, Felis catus)”), and many animal names can be written in kanji, hiragana or katakana.
The tables below give about 50 animals in groups: pets, farm animals, wild animals, sea creatures, birds and insects. Each is a real dictionary word, with its reading, romaji and meaning. Tap one to hear it. Then comes why so many names are in katakana, how to count animals, and the animals that live only in Japan.
You will meet most of these at a 動物園 (どうぶつえん, dōbutsuen, “zoo”) or in a story, so they are worth knowing early.
Pets and farm animals in Japanese
The pets first, with a puppy and a kitten. The note column shows the other ways each word is written.
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 犬 | いぬ | inu | dog (Canis (lupus) familiaris); canine | Usually written in kanji |
| 猫 | ねこ | neko | cat (esp. the domestic cat, Felis catus); feline | Commonly written in kanji, and often ネコ or ねこ |
| ウサギ | ウサギ | usagi | rabbit; hare; coney | Also 兎 or うさぎ |
| ハムスター | ハムスター | hamusutā | hamster | Katakana: a loanword |
| 金魚 | きんぎょ | kingyo | goldfish (Carassius auratus) | Literally "gold fish" |
| 亀 | かめ | kame | tortoise; turtle | One word for turtle and tortoise |
| 子犬 | こいぬ | koinu | puppy | A young dog |
| 子猫 | こねこ | koneko | kitten | A young cat |
Farm animals:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 牛 | うし | ushi | cattle (Bos taurus); cow; bull | Cow, bull or ox. The word also means beef |
| 馬 | うま | uma | horse | Usually written in kanji |
| 豚 | ぶた | buta | pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) | The word also means pork |
| 羊 | ひつじ | hitsuji | sheep (Ovis aries) | Usually written in kanji |
| 鶏 | にわとり | niwatori | chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus); domestic chicken | Read にわとり. In some words it is read とり |
| ヤギ | ヤギ | yagi | goat | Also 山羊 or やぎ |
Wild animals in Japanese
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 熊 | くま | kuma | bear (any mammal of family Ursidae) | Any bear. Japan's two kinds are in the section on native animals |
| キツネ | キツネ | kitsune | fox (esp. the red fox, Vulpes vulpes) | Also 狐 or きつね |
| タヌキ | タヌキ | tanuki | tanuki (Nyctereutes procyonoides); raccoon dog | Also 狸 or たぬき |
| サル | サル | saru | monkey (esp. the Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata); ape; non-human primate | Also 猿 or さる |
| 鹿 | しか | shika | deer (esp. the sika deer, Cervus nippon); cervid | Also written シカ |
| イノシシ | イノシシ | inoshishi | wild boar; wild pig | Also 猪 or いのしし |
| 狼 | おおかみ | ōkami | wolf (Canis lupus) | Also written オオカミ |
| 虎 | とら | tora | tiger (Panthera tigris) | Also written トラ |
| 象 | ぞう | zō | elephant (Elephantidae spp.) | Also written ゾウ |
| ネズミ | ネズミ | nezumi | mouse; rat | Mouse or rat. Also 鼠 or ねずみ |
Sea creatures, birds and insects in Japanese
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 魚 | さかな | sakana | fish | The general word |
| クジラ | クジラ | kujira | whale (Cetacea spp.) | Also 鯨 or くじら |
| イルカ | イルカ | iruka | dolphin (or other small toothed whales, incl. porpoises, belugas, etc.) | Also 海豚 or いるか |
| タコ | タコ | tako | octopus | Also 蛸 or たこ |
| イカ | イカ | ika | cuttlefish; squid | Squid or cuttlefish. Also 烏賊 or いか |
| カニ | カニ | kani | crab | Also 蟹 or かに |
| エビ | エビ | ebi | prawn; shrimp; lobster | Prawn, shrimp or lobster. Also 海老 or えび |
| サメ | サメ | same | shark | Also 鮫 or さめ |
Birds:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鳥 | とり | tori | bird | The general word |
| 鶴 | つる | tsuru | crane (any bird of the family Gruidae, esp. the red-crowned crane, Grus japonensis) | The red-crowned crane is the best known |
| 雀 | すずめ | suzume | tree sparrow (Passer montanus) | The tree sparrow. Also written スズメ |
| カラス | カラス | karasu | crow (Corvus spp.); raven | Crow or raven. Also 烏 or からす |
| 鳩 | はと | hato | pigeon; dove | Pigeon or dove |
| タカ | タカ | taka | hawk; falcon | Hawk or falcon. Also 鷹 or たか |
| フクロウ | フクロウ | fukurō | owl (esp. the Ural owl, Strix uralensis) | Also 梟 or ふくろう |
| 白鳥 | はくちょう | hakuchō | swan (Cygnus spp.) | Literally "white bird" |
| キジ | キジ | kiji | green pheasant (Phasianus versicolor); Japanese green pheasant | Also 雉 or きじ |
Insects and other small creatures:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 虫 | むし | mushi | insect; bug; cricket | Insect or bug |
| 蝶 | ちょう | chō | butterfly | Also written チョウ |
| アリ | アリ | ari | ant | Also 蟻 or あり |
| 蜂 | はち | hachi | bee; wasp; hornet | Bee, wasp or hornet |
| 蚊 | か | ka | mosquito | Also written カ |
| 蝉 | せみ | semi | cicada; locust | Also written セミ |
| ホタル | ホタル | hotaru | firefly (Luciola cruciata); lightning bug; glowworm | Also 蛍 or ほたる |
| トンボ | トンボ | tonbo | dragonfly | Also 蜻蛉 or とんぼ |
| カブトムシ | カブトムシ | kabutomushi | rhinoceros beetle (esp. the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus) | Also 兜虫 or かぶとむし |
| 蛇 | へび | hebi | snake | Also written ヘビ |
| カエル | カエル | kaeru | frog | Also 蛙 or かえる |
Why animal names are in kanji, hiragana or katakana
One animal, several spellings: the dictionary lists 兎, うさぎ and ウサギ for the rabbit, and the same goes for most of the words above. It marks many of them as usually written in kana. The kanji for animals can be hard, and JapanesePod101 says that even ordinary Japanese people may not know how to read or write many of them, so kana is common.
Which kana depends on the page.
- Katakana in biology. Japanese Wikipedia says that in biology, and above all in taxonomy, the Japanese names of species are written in katakana, even though everyday writing often uses kanji. The rule took hold after World War II. So a nature book may print キツネ where a story prints 狐.
- Katakana for foreign animals. Animals from far away often have no kanji, and are written in katakana as loanwords, as with the hamster above and these:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ライオン | ライオン | raion | lion (Panthera leo) | From English |
| パンダ | パンダ | panda | panda | From English |
| ゴリラ | ゴリラ | gorira | gorilla (Gorilla spp., esp. western gorilla, Gorilla gorilla) | From English |
| ペンギン | ペンギン | pengin | penguin | From English |
| カンガルー | カンガルー | kangarū | kangaroo | From English |
Many everyday names, such as カニ, イカ and ウサギ, are also commonly written in katakana, with no scientific reason behind it. Hiragana is the third choice, for instance when a writer doesn't want a hard kanji. In practice you will see the same animal in all three scripts, so learn each word in kana first and the kanji later. If you can't yet read the katakana, What is Katakana? is the place to start, and What is Kanji? explains the other script.
How to count animals in Japanese: 匹, 頭 and 羽
Animals take their own counters, little words that go after the number. The three to learn are these:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 匹 | ひき | hiki | counter for small animals | Dogs, cats, fish and insects, in everyday speech |
| 頭 | とう | tō | counter for large animals (e.g. head of cattle); counter for insects in a collection; counter for helmets, masks, etc. | Horses, cattle and elephants |
| 羽 | わ | wa | counter for birds or rabbits | Birds, and traditionally rabbits |
| 尾 | び | bi | counter for fish, shrimp, etc. | Fish and shrimp |
With a number, the sound changes. One small animal is 一匹 (いっぴき, ippiki, “one (small animal)”), one large animal is 一頭 (いっとう, ittō, “one large animal (horses, cattle, etc.)”), and one bird or rabbit is 一羽 (いちわ, ichiwa, “one (bird or rabbit)”). Fish and shrimp can be 一尾 (いちび, ichibi, “one fish”).
The line between 匹 and 頭 is about size, but it isn't sharp. A pet dog is usually 匹, and a horse or a cow is 頭. Rabbits are an old exception: Japanese Wikipedia lists them with 羽, though Fluent in 3 Months notes that 匹 is common for rabbits today. Japanese Counters gives every reading from 1 to 10.
Practise counting animals
Pick the right counter and reading for dogs, birds, fish and more in a short quiz.
Animals native to Japan, and the traditional ones
Animals found only in Japan
Four well-known ones, with the names they go by in Japan. The tanuki, below, is often counted too.
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ニホンザル | ニホンザル | nihonzaru | Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) | Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu |
| カモシカ | カモシカ | kamoshika | serow; wild goat | The Japanese serow, mainly on Honshu |
| イリオモテヤマネコ | イリオモテヤマネコ | iriomoteyamaneko | Iriomote cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis) | Iriomote island only |
| アマミノクロウサギ | アマミノクロウサギ | amaminokurōsagi | Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi); Ryukyu rabbit | Amami islands |
The Japanese macaque is the "snow monkey". No other non-human primate lives farther north or in a colder climate. At Jigokudani Monkey Park in Nagano, macaques bathe in hot springs in winter, a habit seen since the 1960s, after the monkeys were encouraged to gather there.
The Japanese serow is a goat-antelope, not a deer, although its name ends in しか, the word for deer. It was made a Special Natural Monument in 1955. Wikipedia says it has since recovered from a few thousand animals to about 100,000 by the 1980s. The Japan National Tourism Organization calls it endemic and a national symbol.
The Iriomote cat lives on one island only. It was discovered in 1965. The Ministry of the Environment estimated in 2007 that 100 to 109 remained, and the Japan National Tourism Organization says around 100 adults are thought to be left. The Amami rabbit is also endemic, and is called a living fossil.
Bears are not unique to Japan, but two live there: ヒグマ (higuma, “brown bear (Ursus arctos)”) in Hokkaido and ツキノワグマ (tsukinowaguma, “Asian black bear (Selenarctos thibetanus)”) on Honshu and Shikoku.
Tanuki and kitsune
The タヌキ (tanuki) is a Japanese raccoon dog. It is a canid, not a raccoon. In the stories it is a shape-shifter: the legend of the bake-danuki, the "changing tanuki", says it can turn into people and objects, much as foxes do in Japanese tales. Tanuki statues stand outside many shops and restaurants. The dictionary also uses the word for a sly person, and キツネ for a fox and for udon or soba topped with fried tofu.
The twelve zodiac animals
The twelve zodiac signs, 十二支 (じゅうにし, jūnishi, “12 signs of the Chinese zodiac”), are the most traditional list of animals in Japan. The animal of the year is called 干支 (えと, eto, “12-year Chinese zodiac”). The twelve run: rat (ネズミ), ox (牛), tiger (虎), rabbit (ウサギ), dragon (竜 (りゅう, ryū, “dragon (esp. a Chinese dragon)”)), snake (蛇), horse (馬), sheep (羊), monkey (サル), rooster (酉 (とり, tori, “the Rooster (tenth sign of the Chinese zodiac)”)), dog (犬) and boar (イノシシ). In Japan the 羊 is a sheep, where some countries read it as a goat, and the wild boar stands where the Chinese list has a pig.
Questions about animals in Japanese
What animals are native to Japan only?
The Japanese macaque, the Japanese serow, the Iriomote cat and the Amami rabbit are well-known animals found only in Japan. The tanuki is often added, though some authorities treat it as a subspecies of a wider raccoon dog. The details are in the section above.
What is Japan's most known animal?
Japan has no official most-famous animal, so it depends on who you ask. The snow monkey (ニホンザル), the tanuki, the koi carp (鯉 (こい, koi, “common carp (Cyprinus carpio)”)) and the crane (鶴) are all strong candidates. Wikipedia's list of national symbols names the green pheasant (キジ) as the national bird, declared by a non-government body in 1947, and the koi as the national fish, without saying who declared it.
What are traditional Japanese animals?
The twelve zodiac animals are the most traditional set. Cranes, koi, foxes and tanuki also appear again and again in Japanese art and folklore.
What are the top 10 most popular animals in Japan?
There is no official top 10 of popular animals in Japan. Dogs and cats are usually the pets people mean, and the Japan Pet Food Association runs a yearly national survey of dog and cat ownership, but no ranking covers every animal. The pets in the first table are the usual ones.
What is the cutest animal in Japan?
The cutest animal in Japan is a matter of taste. The word you want is 可愛い (かわいい, kawaii, “cute”), and babies have their own words: 子犬 (puppy) and 子猫 (kitten).
What is the #1 killer in Japan?
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Japan. In 2024 it caused 384,111 deaths, or 23.9 per cent of the total, ahead of heart disease at 14.1 per cent. If you mean animals, wasps and bees kill more people than bears: 191 deaths in 2008 to 2018, against 22 from bears. Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-01.
What does "kiyo" mean in Japanese?
Kiyo is mostly a name, or part of one, and its meaning depends on the kanji. The reading きよ belongs to 清, "clean" or "pure", as in 清い (きよい, kiyoi, “clean”). Other kanji can also be read kiyo.
How do you say "what the hell" in Japanese?
A mild way to say "what the hell" in Japanese is 何てこった (なんてこった, nantekotta, “what the hell”). Stronger swearing varies a lot by speaker and situation, so it is best to learn it by listening, not from a list.
What are the names of 20 animals?
Twenty common animals in Japanese are 犬 (inu, dog), 猫 (neko, cat), 馬 (uma, horse), 牛 (ushi, cow), 豚 (buta, pig), 羊 (hitsuji, sheep), 熊 (kuma, bear), 虎 (tora, tiger), 象 (zō, elephant), 鹿 (shika, deer), 狼 (ōkami, wolf), 魚 (sakana, fish), 鳥 (tori, bird), 蝶 (chō, butterfly), 蜂 (hachi, bee), 蛇 (hebi, snake), キツネ (kitsune, fox), サル (saru, monkey), ウサギ (usagi, rabbit) and クジラ (kujira, whale).
What does "suki" mean in Japanese?
Suki (好き (すき, suki, “liking”)) means "liking" or "being fond of", and it can also mean romantic love. Say "I like it" for a thing, and be careful with a person: it can be a confession. I Love You in Japanese explains.
How do Japanese say "sorry"?
The usual ways to say sorry in Japanese are ごめんなさい (gomennasai, “I'm sorry”) and すみません. Which one to use depends on the situation, as Sorry in Japanese explains.
What does "suki suki suki" mean?
"Suki suki suki" is 好き said three times for emphasis, like "I like you, I like you, I like you". It isn't the word 好き好き (すきずき, sukizuki, “matter of taste”), which is read sukizuki and means something else.
Sources
- Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), including its notes on which animal words are usually written in kana, the counters 匹, 頭, 羽 and 尾, and the senses of キツネ and タヌキ.
- Katakana for species names in biology: Japanese Wikipedia, 和名.
- Foreign animals in katakana, and the difficulty of the kanji: JapanesePod101, Animal Names in Japanese.
- Animal counters: Japanese Wikipedia, 助数詞; Fluent in 3 Months, Japanese Animals: Words, Counters and Sounds.
- The Japanese macaque: English Wikipedia, Japanese macaque.
- The Japanese serow: English Wikipedia, Japanese serow; Japan National Tourism Organization, Wildlife in Japan's National Parks, also for the Amami rabbit, the two bears and the Iriomote cat's numbers.
- The Iriomote cat: English Wikipedia, Iriomote cat.
- The tanuki: English Wikipedia, Japanese raccoon dog.
- The zodiac: English Wikipedia, Chinese zodiac.
- National symbols: English Wikipedia, National symbols of Japan.
- Wasp and bee deaths against bear deaths, 2008 to 2018 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of the Environment): Nippon.com, Japan Data. Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-01.
- Dog and cat survey: Japan Pet Food Association, national dog and cat ownership survey.
- Causes of death in 2024, from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's vital statistics: Japan Life Insurance Association, 死因の順位. Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-01.
- The reading きよ of 清: Wiktionary, 清.
- Reviewed independently; the points about katakana and kanji usage, the counters for rabbits and pets, the names kiyo and "suki suki suki", and the mild "what the hell" are waiting for a native speaker's check.