Bathroom in Japanese: otearai, explained based on its components

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”
  • Example #1: how to say “where is the bathroom?” in Japanese
• Definition and meanings of “tearai”
  • Example #2: how to use “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.

The same concept seems to be lying under its meanings. To understand this word a bit more clearly, let me explain its components in detail, one by one.

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.

From these three components, we can understand that “otearai” is a Japanese polite expression for ‘hand wash’. This is the basic concept lying under the meanings. So, Japanese people consider a room with a toilet as a place where people wash their hands.

Then, let me explain how to use “otearai” through the example sentence below.

Example #1: how to say “where is the bathroom?” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• 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.

This is a typical usage of “otearai”. In this example, it is used as a part of the widely-used expression, “otearai wa doko desu ka”, which means ‘where is the bathroom?’ in Japanese.

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.

This sounds less polite, as the prefix, “o”, is not used. It literally means ‘hand wash’ in Japanese, so can be used to express the act of hand washing. When it is used as a noun for a place, however, it can mean ‘bathroom’, ‘restroom’, ‘washroom’, or ‘toilet’.

Then, let me paraphrase the last example with “tearai” as follows.

Example #2: how to use “tearai”

The English translation remains the same. But, this Japanese sentence sounds less polite than the last one. So, it would be suitable for more casual situations.

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’.

Basically this word means ‘powder room’. But, it can cover the meanings of ‘bathroom’ and the like as well. For example, it is often used on the plane to mean ‘lavatory’.

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”.

Japanese people often say “toire” in casual conversations with friends and family members; they rarely use it in formal situations.

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.

To understand this word more clearly, let me explain its kanji characters in detail.

• 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’.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “benjo” literally means a place for poop. It is a very direct expression, so Japanese people rarely use it.

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.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.