We have already discussed how to say ‘moon’ and ‘sun’ in Japanese, so it is only right that we teach you how to say ‘star’ as well!
The main Japanese word for ‘star’ is hoshi (星 / ほし). This the word we use to talk about a star in the night sky.
For those of you who want to delve deeper into some celestial Japanese vocabulary, read on! Whether you want to talk about shooting stars, star signs, or even your favourite movie ‘star’, this post has all the information you will need. 💫
Words for Star in Japanese
Hoshi
星
Star
The Japanese word for ‘star’ in Japanese is hoshi (星 / ほし).
Hoshi is the kunyomi reading of the kanji for star, and used when referring to a star itself.
However, if used in a compound (where two or more words are combined to make a new word), we usually use the onyomi reading, sei. We’ll see some examples of this further down the page!
Sutaa
スター
Star
In Japanese, they also use the English loanword sutaa (スター / すたー).
Hoshi is used when talking about stars in the sky, while sutaa is more suited for use when referring to the shape, or to a movie or sports star etc.
Nagareboshi / Ryuusei
流星
Shooting star
A ‘shooting star’ can be referred to in two different ways in Japanese. The most common term is nagareboshi (流れ星 / ながれぼし) where the kanji nagare (流れ) meaning ‘to flow’ or ‘descent’ precedes the kanji for ‘star’.
An alternate reading of this kanji compound is ryuusei (流星 / りゅうせい). It has the same meaning but sounds a little more scientific than the casual nagareboshi. It may be in parallel to how we may say ‘shooting star’ vs ‘meteor’ in English.
Hoshizora
星空
Starry sky
Hoshizora (星空 / ほしぞら) is the term used to describe the starry night sky. The first kanji (v) as we know is ‘star’, while the second kanji (空) depicts ‘sky’ in Japanese, sora.
Example:
Kanojo wa hoshizora wo mi agemashita
彼女は星空を見上げました
かのじょはほしぞらをみあげました
She looked up at the stars.
Seiza
星座
Constellation / star sign
On a clear night, you may be able to see a cluster of stars twinkling together. By looking a little closer and joining the lines between each star, you may see that they make up a shape. The ancient Greeks are the ones who discovered what we now know as ‘constellations’.
Seiza (星座 / せいざ) is the Japanese word for ‘constellation’. The second kanji 座 means ‘sitting’, i.e. the way in which the stars sit result in a constellation!
Constellations were mostly labeled after gods or goddesses, animals and other ancient objects significant to the time.
The zodiac signs are made up of 12 constellations. Therefore, the term seiza is also used to refer to ‘zodiac’ or ‘star sign’ in Japanese.
Hoshi uranai
星占い
Horoscope
Uranai (占い / うらない) means ‘fortune-telling’ or ‘divination’ in Japanese. Therefore, hoshi uranai refers to a fortune told by the stars —which we call ‘horoscopes’ in English!
Example:
Zasshi wo kau to, mazu wa hoshi uranai wo mimasu
雑誌を買うと、まずは星占いを見ます
ざっしをかうと、まずはほしうらないをみます
When I buy a magazine, I first look at my horoscope.
Star signs in Japanese
Japanese people more commonly tend to hold belief in the Chinese zodiac, which assigns an animal and various personality traits with your birth year.
That being said, they would likely have knowledge on the Western zodiac astrological signs too, even if only to the extent of knowing their own birth sign and its attributes!
| English | Kanji | Hiragana | Romaji |
| Aries | 牡羊座 | おひつじざ | ohitsujiza |
| Taurus | 牡牛座 | おうしざ | oushiza |
| Gemini | 双子座 | ふたござ | futagoza |
| Cancer | 蟹座 | かにざ | kaniza |
| Leo | 獅子座 | ししざ | shishiza |
| Virgo | 乙女座 | おとめざ | otomeza |
| Libra | 天秤座 | てんびんざ | tenbinza |
| Scorpio | 蠍座 | さそりざ | sasoriza |
| Sagittarius | 射手座 | いてざ | iteza |
| Capricorn | 山羊座 | やぎざ | yagiza |
| Aquarius | 水瓶座 | みずがめざ | mizugameza |
| Pisces | 魚座 | うおざ | uoza |
Planets in Japanese
Although they are not stars, planets are celestial bodies that hang out with the stars up in space. Interestingly, in the Japanese language, the kanji for ‘star’ is included in each planet’s name.
The word for ‘planet’ in Japanese is wakusei (惑星 / わくせい).
Most of the planet names in Japanese are made up of a natural element followed by ‘star’. Check out our post on days of the week to see how these heavenly bodies have influenced the terminology in our everyday vocabulary!
| English | Kanji | Hiragana | Romaji |
| Planets | 惑星 | わくせい | wakusei |
| Mercury | 水星 | すいせい | suisei |
| Venus | 金星 | きんせい | kinsei |
| Mars | 火星 | かせい | kasei |
| Jupiter | 木星 | もくせい | mokusei |
| Saturn | 土星 | どせい | dosei |
| Uranus | 天王星 | てんおうせい | tennousei |
| Neptune | 海王星 | かいおうせい | kaiousei |
| Pluto | 冥王星 | めいおうせい | meiousei |
Conclusion
Now you know so many ways to talk about the stars in Japanese! Which is your favourite word? Did anything surprise you – perhaps the fact that all the planet names in Japanese contain the word ‘star’?
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Related posts
- All About the 12 Japanese Zodiac Signs: Which Animal Are You?
- How to Say Moon in Japanese (+ More Beautiful Moon Vocab)
- How To Say Sun In Japanese (11+ Sunny Japanese Words)
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Hannah is a half Irish/half Japanese girl living in Ireland. Her love for Japan and the Japanese language led her to studying languages and translation in university where she specialised in Japanese. She spent a year studying abroad at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. In her free time, Hannah enjoys using her sewing machine to upcycle clothes and create new pieces!