How to say “bathroom” in Japanese
Japanese native speakers would say “ofuro”. It means a bath itself or a room with a bathtub. It never means a room with a toilet. So, most probably this is not the word that Japanese learners want to know as the translation of “bathroom”.When Japanese native speakers mean “a room with a toilet” in Japanese, they would say “otearai”. This word would meet more needs of Japanese learners, I think. In this blog post, therefore, I will focus on it and explain how to say “where is the bathroom?” in Japanese. Let’s get started!
Contents
- Definition and meanings of “otearai”
- Components of “otearai”
- Definition and meanings of “tearai”
- Powder room in Japanese: keshoushitsu
- Toilet in Japanese: toire
- Definition and meanings of “benjo”
- Summary
Definition and meanings of “otearai”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “otearai”.- otearai – お手洗い (おてあらい) : a noun meaning ‘bathroom’, ‘restroom’, ‘washroom’, or ‘toilet’ in Japanese.
Components of “otearai”
“Otearai” can be broken down into the following three parts:- o – お : a prefix used to make its following word polite.
- te – 手 (て) : a noun meaning ‘hand’ in Japanese. It can also be used as a plural noun meaning ‘hands’.
- arai – 洗い (あらい) : a noun meaning ‘wash’ in Japanese. It can be considered as a noun form of the verb, “arau”, which means ‘to wash’ in Japanese. In the Japanese language, we can make noun forms of verbs by replacing the last “u” sound with “i”. “Arai” is one of the most typical noun forms.
Then, let me explain how to use “otearai” through the example sentence below.
Example #1: how to say “where is the bathroom?” in Japanese
otearai wa doko desu ka – お手洗いはどこですか (おてあらいはどこですか)
Where is the bathroom?
Where is the bathroom?
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “otearai”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
- doko – どこ : an indefinite demonstrative pronoun meaning ‘where’ in Japanese. It is widely used to make “where” questions in Japanese.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, it is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, it is put after “doko” to make it sound polite.
- ka – か : a sentence-ending particle used to a make question in Japanese. Normally, it is used with the pitch raised. As its definition suggests, it is put at the end of the example sentence to make the question.
When we want to say “bathroom” in Japanese, “otearai” would be a good option. Yet, it is not the only one which can be translated as “bathroom”. In fact, Japanese people often use its less-polite version. Let me explain it as follows.
Definition and meanings of “tearai”
Below are the definition and meanings of the less-polite version of “otearai”.- tearai – 手洗い (てあらい) : a noun meaning ‘bathroom’, ‘restroom’, ‘washroom’, or ‘toilet’ in Japanese.
Then, let me paraphrase the last example with “tearai” as follows.
Example #2: how to use “tearai”
tearai wa doko desu ka – 手洗いはどこですか (てあらいはどこですか)
Where is the bathroom?
Where is the bathroom?
In the rest part of this blog post, I will explain other Japanese words for ‘bathroom’.
Powder room in Japanese: keshoushitsu
Below are the definition and meaning of “keshoushitsu”.- keshoushitsu – 化粧室 (けしょうしつ) : a noun meaning ‘powder room’ in Japanese. This word consists of the two parts, “keshou” and “shitsu“, which mean ‘makeup’ and ‘room’ respectively. So, this word literally means ‘makeup room’.
Toilet in Japanese: toire
Below are the definition and meaning of “toire”.- toire – トイレ (といれ) : a noun meaning ‘toilet’ in Japanese. It is an imported word which originally came from the pronunciation of “toilet”.
Definition and meanings of “benjo”
Below are the definition and meanings of “benjo”.- benjo – 便所 (べんじょ) : a noun meaning ‘bathroom’, ‘restroom’, ‘washroom’, or ‘toilet’ in Japanese.
- 便 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘convenience’. It can also be used to mean ‘poop’ or ‘excreta’.
- 所 : a kanji character used to mean ‘place’.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the word, “otearai”, in detail based on its components. And also, I’ve explained other Japanese words for ‘bathroom’. Let me summarize them as follows.- otearai – 御手洗い (おてあらい) : a noun meaning ‘bathroom’, ‘restroom’, ‘washroom’, or ‘toilet’ in Japanese. It is a polite expression of “tearai”.
- otearai wa doko desu ka – お手洗いはどこですか (おてあらいはどこですか) : a Japanese expression for ‘where is the bathroom?’
- tearai – 手洗い (てあらい) : a noun meaning ‘bathroom’, ‘restroom’, ‘washroom’, or ‘toilet’ in Japanese. It literally means ‘hand wash’. So, it can be used to mean ‘hand washing’. When it is used as a noun for a place, it would mean ‘bathroom’ or such.
- keshoushitsu – 化粧室 (けしょうしつ) : a noun meaning ‘powder room’ in Japanese. This word consists of the two parts, “keshou” and “shitsu”, which mean ‘makeup’ and ‘room’ respectively. So, it literally means ‘makeup room’. It is often used on the plane, for example.
- toire – トイレ (といれ) : a noun meaning ‘toilet’ in Japanese. It is an imported word which originally came from the pronunciation of “toilet”. Japanese native speakers often use it in casual conversations with friends and family members.
- benjo – 便所 (べんじょ) : a noun meaning ‘bathroom’, ‘restroom’, ‘washroom’, or ‘toilet’ in Japanese. It literally means a place for poop. Japanese people rarely use it, as it is very direct and straightforward.
Learn more vocabulary on the app!
You can improve your Japanese vocabulary with our flashcards.