In today’s vocabulary blog post, you will get to know how to say “dog” in Japanese. As usual, there are a couple of words that can be used, so I’m going to tell you in detail the meaning, translation, and kanji of the 6 most commonly used Japanese words for “dog“. Let’s start with a quick overview.
The word inu (犬) is the basic and most commonly used word for “dog” or “dogs” in Japanese. However, children or dog lovers might also use the rather cute-sounding words wanko (ワンコ, わん子) or wanchan (ワンチャン), which can be translated as “dog”, “doggy”, “doggie, “pooch”, or “bow-wow”.
Read on if you are interested in getting to know all the 6 ways to say “dog” in Japanese. I have also included the Japanese word for “puppy“. Furthermore, you can learn how to say simple phrases and sentences such as “cute dog“, “black dog“, “I love my dog“, and “I want a dog” in Japanese.
How to Say “Dog” in Japanese
- inu – 犬
- wanko – ワンコ
- wanchan – ワンチャン
- kaiinu – 飼い犬
- doggu – ドッグ
- koinu – 子犬
1. Inu – Basic Way to Say “Dog” in Japanese
Inu (犬) is the most commonly used word for “dog” in Japanese. It can also be used to say “dogs” since there is usually no difference between the singular and plural in Japanese. Whenever my Japanese friends or dog owners I see on my way to work talk about dogs this is the word they use.
inu
犬
dog
2. Wanko – Means “Dog”, “Doggy”, or “Bow-Wow” in Japanese
The Japanese word wanko, which can be written as ワンコ, ワン子, or わん子, translates as “dog“, “doggy“, or “bow-wow“. It’s considered children language and mostly used by Japanese kids. However, some dog lovers might also use the word when they want to refer to dogs in a more affectionate way.
wanko
ワンコ
dog
doggy
bow-wow
3. Wanchan – Cute Way to Say “Dog” or “Doggie” in Japanese
Wanchan (ワンチャン, わんちゃん) means “doggie“, “pooch“, or “bow-wow” and is another rather cute-sounding term that is commonly used by children. Just like “wanko” the word is also used by adults, who want to talk about dogs or their own dog in a more loving way, though.
wanchan
ワンチャン
doggie
pooch
bow-wow
The first part of the word, wan (ワン) translates as “woof“, by the way, and wan wan (わんわん, ワンワン) is the onomatopoeia for the sound that a dog makes and translates as “woof woof“. The last part chan (ちゃん) is one of the common Japanese honorific titles and adds cuteness.
wan
ワン
woofwan wan
ワンワン
woof woof
4. Kaiinu – More Official Word That Translates as “Pet Dog”
The official term for a “pet dog” is kaiinu (飼い犬) in Japanese. To tell you the truth I have never ever heard the word used in an actual conversation. However, it might be used in a conversation to differentiate pet dogs from stray dogs which are called yaken (野犬) and/or norainu (野良犬) in Japanese.
kaiinu
飼い犬
pet dog
5. Doggu – English Loanword Meaning “Dog”
Of course, there is also an English loanword for “dog” which is doggu (ドッグ). Since it is an imported word it is written in katakana only and not in kanji. It is less often used to refer to dogs but frequently used in related words such as “dog food“, “dog park“, “dog race“, and so on.
doggu
ドッグ
dog
6. Koinu – Means “Puppy” in Japanese
Koinu (子犬) is the Japanese word for “puppy“, but can also be translated as “small dog“. The first part of the word, 子, is the kanji for “child” or “young” and the second part, 犬, is the kanji for “dog“. So literally translated the word means “child dog” or “young dog”.
koinu
子犬
puppy
small dog
Advanced Words & Phrases For “Dog” in Japanese
- cute dog – 可愛い犬
- my dog – 私の犬
- black dog – 黒い犬
- white dog – 白い犬
- big dog – 大きな犬
- I love my dog – 私の犬が大好き
- I want a dog – 犬が欲しい
- Your dog is cute – 犬は可愛いです
Cute Dog – Kawaii Inu
Kawaii inu (可愛い犬) means “cute dog” in Japanese. The first word kawaii (可愛い) translates as “cute“, “adorable“, “charming“, or “lovely“. Since it is an i-adjective you can just add the Japanese word for “dog“, which is the noun inu (犬), after the adjective to say “cute dog“.
kawaii inu
可愛い犬
cute dog
My Dog – Watashi no Inu
The literal translation of “my dog” in Japanese is watashi no inu (私の犬). Watashi (私) means “I“, no (の) is a particle that indicates possession, and inu (犬) means “dog“. However, it is the easiest to combine the first two words “watashi no” (私の) since they conveniently translate as “my“.
watashi no inu
私の犬
my dog
The full sentence “This is my dog” would be “Kore wa watashi no inu” (これは私の犬) or the even politer version “Kore wa watashi no inu desu” (これは私の犬です).
Black Dog – Kuroi Inu
Kuroi inu (黒い犬) is the Japanese phrase for “black dog“. The first word kuroi (黒い) means black and as we have already learned earlier in this blog post inu (犬) means “dog“. Of course, you could also combine kuroi (黒い) with koinu (子犬), for example, to say “black puppy“.
kuroi inu
黒い犬
black dogkuroi koinu
黒い子犬
black puppy
There is another word for black which is burakku (ブラック). So you could also use “burakku inu” (ブラック犬) or “burakku doggu” (ブラックドッグ) instead, but it sounds a bit funny and not really like a native speaker.
White Dog – Shiroi Inu
Shiroi inu (白い犬) is how you say “white dog” in Japanese. The first word shiroi (白い) means “white“ and just like before with the color black you can add the i-adjective before the noun inu (犬) to describe or refer to a white dog.
shiroi inu
白い犬
white dog
Big Dog – Ookii Inu
Ookina inu (大きな犬) is the phrase you should use to say “big dog” in Japanese. The first word ookii (大きな) means “big” or “large” and the second word inu (犬) means “dog“, of course. If you want to talk about large-sized dogs or dog breeds in general you could also say “oogata inu” (大型犬).
ookina inu
大きな犬
big dogoogata inu
大型犬
large-breed dog
I Love My Dog – Watashi no Inu ga Daisuki
Watashi no inu ga daisuki (私の犬が大好き) means “I love my dog“. As discussed earlier, “watashi no inu” (私の犬) means “my dog“, ga (が) is the object particle, and daisuki (大好き) means “like a lot” or “love”.
Watashi no inu ga daisuki.
私の犬が大好き。
I love my dog.
Instead of “watashi no inu” (私の犬) you could also use the name of your dog and add “ga daisuki” (が大好き) to say that you love your dog. It is also common to attach a suffix after your dog’s name like chan (ちゃん) for a female dog or the honorific kun (くん, 君) for a male dog.
I Want a Dog – Inu ga Hoshii
The English sentence “I want a dog” is “Inu ga hoshii” (犬が欲しい) in Japanese. Since it is common to omit “I” or “You” when the subject is clear all you need is “…ga hoshii” (〇〇が欲しい) to say that you want something. If you want to be more polite you can add desu (です) at the end.
Inu ga hoshii.
犬が欲しい。
I want a dog.Inu ga hoshii desu.
犬が欲しいです。
I want a dog. (polite)
Your Dog is Cute – Inu wa Kawaii Desu
Inu wa kawaii desu (犬は可愛いです) is the polite way to say “Your dog is cute” in Japanese. However, “you” or “your“, which would be anata (あんた) or anata no (あなたの) in Japanese, isn’t needed and is usually omitted. You could also just say “Kawaii” (可愛い) or “Kawaii desu” (可愛いです), which sounds more natural.
Inu wa kawaii desu.
犬は可愛いです。
Your dog is cute.Kawaii!
可愛い！
(Your dog is) cute!
Kawaii desu!
可愛いです！
(Your dog is) cute! (more polite)