This is the second post in a series of posts on karate terms which covers all direction and body part words in Japanese that you will probably ever need in your karate training.

Content

  1. Direction words in Japanese
  2. Video to help pronounce direction words in Japanese
  3. Body part words in Japanese
  4. Video to help pronounce body part words in Japanese

Direction words in Japanese

Some of those words will help you remember the names of techniques in Japanese easier.

For example, ‘mae‘ means front and ‘geri‘ means kick so ‘mae geri‘ means front kick; ‘ushiro‘ means back so ‘ushiro geri‘ means back kick.

Some other words like migi, hidari, naka or hantai may be less commonly used in some Western dojos but some dojos do. If your your instructor doesn’t use them, they still can be useful if you ever have the chance to train in Japan.

JapaneseEnglish
MaeFront
UshiroBack
HidariLeft
MigiRight
SotoOutside
YokoSide
NakaInside
MannakaMiddle
AidaBetween
ShitaUnder
UeOn
HantaiReverse or change (direction)

Video to help pronounce direction words in Japanese

Below is a video to help you with learning some of those direction words.

Body part words in Japanese

Although you probably don’t need to memorize all of these if you are in a Western dojo, here are 60 Japanese body part words if you would like a bit of brain challenge.[1]

JapaneseEnglish
kaoFace
kamiHair
kami no keHair
atamaHead
mimiEar
mimitabuEarlobe
hoo/hohoCheek
hoppetaCheek
hitaiForehead
odekoForehead
mayuEyebrow
meEye
mabutaEyelids
matsugeEyelashes
hanaNose
bikouNostril
kuchiMouth
kuchibiruLips
haTeeth
hagukiGum / Tooth Ridge
shitaTongue
agoChin / Jaw
karadaBody
kubiNeck
nodoThroat
kataShoulder
udeArm
waki no shitaArmpit
hijiElbow
teHand
tekubiWrist
kobushiFist
yubiFinger
oya yubiThumb
hitosashi yubiIndex Finger
naka yubiMiddle Finger
kusuri yubiRing Finger
ko yubiLittle Finger
tsumeFingernail / Toenail
muneBreast / Chest
onakaStomach
haraStomach
hesoBelly Button
koshiWaist / Hips
futomomoThigh
fukurahagiCalf
hizaKnee
hizagashiraKneecap
ashiFoot / Leg
ashikubiAnkle
kakatoHeel
tsumasakiToe / Tiptoe
senakaBack (of Body)
oshiriButtocks
hadaSkin
honeBone
kinnikuMuscle
haiLung (organ)
shinzouHeart (organ
iStomach (organ)

Video to help pronounce body part words in Japanese

Below is a video to help you with learning those body part words.