Sushi Names in Japanese

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Love sushi?

If you’ve landed on this site, it’s a pretty safe bet that the answer’s yes!

Wanna learn how to order your favourite sushi in Japanese?

Check out this awesome infographic showing some of the most popular sushi names in Japanese:

An infographic showing images of key sushi ingredients and their names in Japanese

Thanks to Wafu Blog for the cute visual guide 🙂

We’ve also listed the above ingredients, plus several other essential sushi words, in text format below.

Use it as a quick reference in the sushi bar, or copy and paste the vocab into your flashcard app.

First of all, the fish:

Japanese Romaji English
あじ aji horse mackerel
えび ebi shrimp
はまち hamachi young yellowtail
ほたて hotate scallop
いか ika squid
いくら ikura salmon roe
いわし iwashi sardine
かにかま kanikama crab stick
まぐろ maguro tuna
たこ tako octopus
さば saba mackerel (generic term)
さけ sake salmon
たい tai sea bream
うなぎ unagi eel (freshwater)

maguro sushi japanese names

Secondly, here are some non-fish sushi fillings and toppings that you might come across:

Japanese Romaji English
アスパラガス asuparagasu asparagus
アヴォカド abokado avocado
きゅうり kyuri cucumber
なっと natto fermented soybean curd
せんぎりにんじん sengiri ninjin carrot julienne
しそ shiso Japanese basil
しいたけ shiitake shiitake mushroom
たまごやき tamagoyaki Japanese omelette
てんぷら tempura tempura
うずら の たまご uzura no tamago quail egg

And don’t forget these things to garnish your sushi!

Japanese Romaji English
がり gari pickled ginger
しょうゆ shouyu soy sauce
わさび wasabi wasabi paste

Finally, something to wash it all down with…

Japanese Romaji English
あがり agari green tea (sushi bar kind)
ビール biiru beer
にほんしゅ nihonshu Japanese rice wine (sake)

Ready to hit an authentic Japanese sushi restaurant? Here’s a sneak peek at what you can expect!

See if you can recognise any of the fish names (or other words you’ve learned) in this clip:

There you go! Ready to get your sushi fix.

If you want to learn more about how to order in restaurants in Japan, check out our recommended Japanese course.

Mata ne!

2 thoughts on “Sushi Names in Japanese”

  1. Thank you for this awesome article!

    By the way, I think you may want to change the hiragana for Shiitake. Shouldn’t it be しいたけ instead of いわし?

    Reply

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