The World Around You
Look around the room. The desk, the chair, the phone in your hand, the window, the street outside, the station down the road — this chapter puts Japanese labels on all of it. These are among the most frequent nouns in the entire language, and they are the building blocks you'll soon plug into real sentences like "the key is on the desk" and "the bank is next to the station".
Study tip: this is a vocabulary-heavy chapter, so use it in two passes. First pass: read everything, enjoy the patterns and notes. Second pass (over the following days): quiz yourself table by table. Even better — stick imaginary labels on real objects around you and name them in Japanese as you use them!
1. Things at Home
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning | Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 机 | tsukue | desk | 時計 | tokei | clock, watch |
| いす | isu | chair | 電気 | denki | electricity; the lights |
| ベッド | beddo | bed | 窓 | mado | window |
| テレビ | terebi | TV | ドア | doa | door |
| 冷蔵庫 | reizōko | refrigerator | 本 | hon | book |
| 洗濯機 | sentakuki | washing machine | 写真 | shashin | photograph |
Notice how many household items are katakana loanwords (ベッド, テレビ, ドア) — your katakana skills pay rent daily! And 電気 (denki) does double duty: 電気をつけます (denki o tsukemasu) means "turn on the lights".
2. Things You Carry
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| かばん | kaban | bag |
| 財布 | saifu | wallet |
| かぎ | kagi | key |
| 傘 | kasa | umbrella |
| めがね | megane | glasses |
| 電話 | denwa | telephone |
| 携帯（電話） | keitai (denwa) | mobile phone |
| スマホ | sumaho | smartphone (from "smartphone" — chopped Japanese-style!) |
Did you know? Japanese loves abbreviating loanwords to four beats: スマートフォン → スマホ (sumaho), パーソナルコンピューター → パソコン (pasokon), コンビニエンスストア → コンビニ (konbini). If a katakana word seems mysteriously short, it's probably one of these chopped compounds.
3. School & Office Things
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning | Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鉛筆 | enpitsu | pencil | 辞書 | jisho | dictionary |
| ペン | pen | pen | 教科書 | kyōkasho | textbook |
| 消しゴム | keshigomu | eraser | ノート | nōto | notebook |
| 紙 | kami | paper | パソコン | pasokon | computer |
消しゴム (keshigomu) is a fun hybrid: 消し (keshi, "erasing") + ゴム (gomu, "rubber/gum" from Dutch). Japanese, Chinese characters and Dutch in one small eraser!
4. Home & Rooms
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家 / うち | ie / uchi | house / home ("uchi" feels like home, "ie" like the building) |
| 部屋 | heya | room |
| 台所 | daidokoro | kitchen (also キッチン, kitchin) |
| おふろ | ofuro | bath, bathtub |
| トイレ | toire | toilet, restroom |
| 玄関 | genkan | entryway — the sunken area where shoes come off! |
| 庭 | niwa | garden, yard |
Culture note: the 玄関 (genkan) is sacred territory — always remove your shoes there when entering a Japanese home. Note that おふろ (bath) and トイレ (toilet) are usually separate rooms in Japan, so asking for the おふろ when you need the トイレ will cause confusion (and giggles).
5. Places in Town
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning | Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 駅 | eki | station | 公園 | kōen | park |
| 学校 | gakkō | school | 図書館 | toshokan | library |
| 会社 | kaisha | company, office | 映画館 | eigakan | cinema |
| 銀行 | ginkō | bank | デパート | depāto | department store |
| 病院 | byōin | hospital | スーパー | sūpā | supermarket |
| 郵便局 | yūbinkyoku | post office | コンビニ | konbini | convenience store |
| 店 | mise | shop | レストラン | resutoran | restaurant |
| 空港 | kūkō | airport | ホテル | hoteru | hotel |
Patterns to spot: 〜館 (kan) marks big buildings — 図書館 library, 映画館 cinema. And remember the pair from the kana chapters: 病院 (byōin, hospital) with small ょ+long vowel, vs 美容院 (biyōin, hair salon)!
6. Position Words: Where Things Are
These little words describe location, and they combine with の in a pattern you'll formally learn in the particles chapters: [thing] の [position] = "the [position] of [thing]":
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 上 | ue | on, above | 机の上 (tsukue no ue) — on the desk |
| 下 | shita | under, below | いすの下 (isu no shita) — under the chair |
| 中 | naka | inside | かばんの中 (kaban no naka) — in the bag |
| 前 | mae | in front of | 駅の前 (eki no mae) — in front of the station |
| 後ろ | ushiro | behind | 家の後ろ (ie no ushiro) — behind the house |
| 隣 | tonari | next to | 銀行の隣 (ginkō no tonari) — next to the bank |
| 近く | chikaku | near | 学校の近く (gakkō no chikaku) — near the school |
| 右 | migi | right | 右のドア (migi no doa) — the door on the right |
| 左 | hidari | left | 左の部屋 (hidari no heya) — the room on the left |
Three of these — 上, 下, 中 — are kanji you learned in the kanji chapter. Now you see them at work! These position phrases become supremely useful with the verbs あります/います ("there is/exists") in the Verb Basics chapter: かぎは机の上にあります (Kagi wa tsukue no ue ni arimasu) — "The key is on the desk."
7. Getting Around: Transport
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 電車 | densha | train |
| 地下鉄 | chikatetsu | subway (地下 = underground + 鉄 = iron. "Underground iron"!) |
| バス | basu | bus |
| 車 | kuruma | car |
| 自転車 | jitensha | bicycle |
| 飛行機 | hikōki | airplane |
| タクシー | takushī | taxi |
8. First Real Sentences with This Vocabulary
Even before the grammar section, you can already understand these patterns. Read each aloud:
これはかぎです。(Kore wa kagi desu.) — This is a key.
トイレはどこですか。(Toire wa doko desu ka.) — Where is the restroom?
駅の前のコンビニ (eki no mae no konbini) — the convenience store in front of the station
かばんの中にスマホがあります。(Kaban no naka ni sumaho ga arimasu.) — There's a smartphone in the bag.
The question 〜はどこですか (wa doko desu ka, "where is ~?") is your travel lifeline — combine it with any place from section 5: 駅はどこですか? 銀行はどこですか? You will formally master どこ in the Questions chapter and use it for real navigation in the Directions chapter.
Summary & Key Takeaways
- You now have ~60 core nouns for home, personal items, school, rooms, town and transport — the raw material for the grammar section ahead.
- Many everyday objects are katakana loanwords, often chopped to four beats: スマホ, パソコン, コンビニ.
- Word-part patterns multiply vocabulary: 〜館 = building (図書館), 電〜 = electric (電車, 電話), 地下 = underground.
- Position words (上, 下, 中, 前, 後ろ, 隣, 近く, 右, 左) combine as [thing の position]: 机の上 = on the desk.
- The survival question: 〜はどこですか — "Where is ~?"
- Culture: shoes off at the 玄関, and おふろ (bath) ≠ トイレ (toilet)!