LESSON NOTES · レッスンノート

N5Lesson notes · Oct 10, 2026

Animal in Japanese: 動物どうぶつ vs 生き物いきもの, plus names, kanji and counters

Animal in Japanese is 動物どうぶつ (doubutsu), written in kanji, and it is the word you use for "animals" as a group — for a specific animal you usually name it: 犬いぬ, 猫ねこ, 馬うま.

Searches like "animal in Japanese hiragana" come up a lot, so this article starts there: how 動物どうぶつ is written, what the hiragana どうぶつ is for, and then the words that sit next to it — 生き物いきもの, ペット, 獣けもの, ケモミミ. After that you get a table of the animal names you will actually hear, a first look at counters (匹ひき, 頭あたま, 羽はね), and the foxes and tanuki that keep showing up in anime.

The basics

How do you say animal in Japanese, in hiragana and kanji?

動物どうぶつ (doubutsu) in kanji, どうぶつ in hiragana. 動どう means "move" and 物もの means "thing," so the word is literally "a moving thing." Both writings are correct. In everyday text you will see 動物どうぶつ, and you will see どうぶつ in picture books, on children's signs, and in learner materials where kanji would be too hard.

Say it as do-o-bu-tsu: the "ou" in どう is a long "o." Four beats in total, the same pattern as the long vowel in コーヒー.

動物どうぶつが好すきです。 — I like animals. (polite, a general preference) どうぶつの絵えをかきました。 — I drew a picture of animals. (polite, hiragana as in a children's text)

How do you say "I like animals" and "I have a pet"?

Use が with 好すき, and いる for a living thing you have. Animals are alive, so "there is / I have" uses いる, not ある.

犬いぬと猫ねこが好すきです。 — I like dogs and cats. (polite, a preference) うちには猫ねこが二匹にひきいます。 — We have two cats at home. (polite, describing the household)

If you want the cat and dog words in depth, see cat in Japanese and dog in Japanese.

What are the common animal names in Japanese?

Learn them in hiragana first, then add the kanji as you meet them. Most animal words are short, and several kanji are common enough to read on signs. Many are also written in katakana in science writing or manga, which is normal for animal names.

English Hiragana Kanji Note
dog いぬ 犬いぬ pets and strays
cat ねこ 猫ねこ pets and strays
rabbit うさぎ 兎うさぎ kanji rare, hiragana common
bird とり 鳥とり any bird
fish さかな 魚さかな see below on fish and 動物どうぶつ
horse うま 馬うま large animal
cow / cattle うし 牛うし the animal, not the meat
pig ぶた 豚ぶた the animal, not the meat
bear くま 熊くま also a common name element
fox きつね 狐きつね foxes in folklore, see below
tanuki (raccoon dog) たぬき 狸たぬき folklore, see below
monkey さる 猿さる

A small trick: 魚さかな (sakana) is the animal, but the same character also appears in words for fish dishes. 牛うし and 豚ぶた the animals are different from 牛肉ぎゅうにく (beef) and 豚肉ぶたにく (pork), where 肉にく means "meat." With 牛うし the reading shifts too: alone it is うし, but beef is ぎゅうにく, while meat in Japanese notes that 豚肉ぶたにく keeps the native ぶた and is read ぶたにく.

Beyond the basics

What is the difference between 動物どうぶつ and 生き物いきもの?

動物どうぶつ is "animal" as a category; 生き物いきもの (ikimono) is "living thing" and is wider and softer. 生き物いきもの comes from 生いきる (to live) and 物もの (thing). It can include insects, fish, birds, and in a loose sense even plants, depending on the speaker. 動物どうぶつ, in everyday speech, leans toward furry or four-legged animals — the kind you would see in a 動物園どうぶつえん.

動物どうぶつが好すきです。 — I like animals. (polite, thinking of mammals like dogs and cats) 生き物いきものが好すきです。 — I like living creatures. (polite, wider: insects, fish and so on)

If someone says 生き物いきものが好すき, they might love beetles and goldfish too. If someone says 動物どうぶつが好すき, you would picture a dog, a cat, maybe a rabbit. That is a feel, not a strict rule, so listen to the context.

Is a fish a 動物どうぶつ?

Biologically yes, but in everyday talk people often say 魚さかな on its own and keep it separate from 動物どうぶつ. If someone asks 動物どうぶつは好すき? and you answer 魚さかなが好すき, you may get a small laugh, because they were probably thinking of dogs and cats. It is not wrong, just a different category in people's minds. 生き物いきもの covers it more naturally.

魚さかなも生き物いきものです。 — Fish are living things too. (polite, correcting the category) 鳥とりと魚さかなは動物どうぶつですか。 — Are birds and fish animals? (polite, a learner's question)

How are ペット, 獣けもの and ケモミミ different?

ペット (petto) is an animal kept at home, 獣けもの (kemono) is a wild beast, and ケモミミ is a character with animal ears. They all connect to animals but point in different directions.

  • ペット is a loanword, written in katakana. It says nothing about the species; it is about the relationship. A dog can be a ペット, and so can a hamster.
  • 獣けもの (けもの, kemono) means a beast, usually a four-legged wild animal. It sounds wilder and more dramatic than 動物どうぶつ. You also see it in words like 獣医じゅうい (juui, veterinarian).
  • ケモミミ (kemomimi) is slang from anime and games, short for 獣耳けものみみ (kemono-mimi), "beast ears." It means a character with animal ears, such as cat ears or fox ears, not an actual animal.

ペットを飼かっていますか。 — Do you keep a pet? (polite, a common getting-to-know-you question) 森もりには獣けものがいる。 — There are wild beasts in the forest. (casual, a story-like line) あのキャラ、ケモミミだよ。 — That character has animal ears. (casual, fan talk)

What is a 動物園どうぶつえん, and what do you say at one?

動物園どうぶつえん (doubutsuen) is a zoo: 動物どうぶつ plus 園その, "garden." The 園その character is the same one in 公園こうえん (park) and 幼稚園ようちえん (kindergarten), so it often means a place made for a purpose. Related: 水族館すいぞくかん (suizokukan) is an aquarium.

日曜日にちようびに動物園どうぶつえんへ行いきます。 — I'm going to the zoo on Sunday. (polite, a plan) 見みて、あそこにくまがいる! — Look, there's a bear over there! (casual, pointing at an animal)

How do you count animals: 匹ひき, 頭あたま and 羽はね?

Small animals take 匹ひき (hiki), large animals take 頭あたま (tou), and birds take 羽はね (wa). This is only the starter version. Each counter changes its sound after certain numbers: 一匹いっぴき (ippiki), 二匹にひき (nihiki), 三匹さんびき (sanbiki). Say the numbers out loud a few times and the pattern becomes natural.

Counter Used for Example
匹ひき (ひき) small and medium animals, including dogs, cats and fish 猫ねこが一匹いっぴき
頭あたま (とう) large animals, such as horses, cows and bears 馬うまが二頭にとう
羽わ (わ) birds; rabbits are traditionally counted this way too 鳥とりが三羽さんば

犬いぬが三匹さんびきいます。 — There are three dogs. (polite, counting small animals) 牛うしが五頭ごとういます。 — There are five cows. (polite, counting large animals) 鳥とりが二羽にわいます。 — There are two birds. (polite, counting birds)

A good starting rule: when in doubt, 匹ひき works for most small things, and a native speaker will not mind. For fish, 匹ひき is the everyday counter. For more on how sound words describe animals, see Japanese onomatopoeia — dogs say ワンワン and cats say ニャー, and that is its own mini world.

What about foxes and tanuki in anime?

きつね and たぬき are folklore animals that "change shape" (化ばける, bakeru), so you hear them in stories and festival scenes. In old tales, a fox or a tanuki can turn into a person to trick someone, and anime borrows that idea often. A character who is a "fox girl" or a "tanuki boy" is usually a spirit or a shapeshifter, not just an animal. The same 化ばける sits inside お化ばけ, the childlike word for a ghost or spooky thing, and ghost in Japanese sets it against 幽霊ゆうれい, the spirit of a dead person.

  • 化ばける (ばける, bakeru) means "to transform, to take another shape." It is used for foxes, tanuki and ghosts, not for ordinary changes like getting taller.
  • 化ばかす (ばかす) means "to fool someone by transforming." You will hear きつねに化ばかされた, "I was tricked by a fox."

きつねが人ひとに化ばけた。 — The fox turned into a person. (casual, narration) たぬきに化ばかされたかも。 — Maybe I was fooled by a tanuki. (casual, joking about something odd)

You may also see きつね and たぬき as the names of noodle dishes. Those are food words, not animals, so the context will tell you. The animal is still behind the name, though: きつねうどん is topped with 油揚あぶらあげげ, the fried tofu that folklore says a fox loves, and fox in Japanese follows the same fox on to Inari shrines and いなり寿司すし.

Common mistakes

  • Using 動物どうぶつ as a word for one specific animal. 動物どうぶつ is the category. If you mean one dog, say 犬いぬ; if you mean the idea of animals, say 動物どうぶつ.
  • Mixing up 動物どうぶつ and 生き物いきもの. 動物どうぶつ leans toward mammals and zoo animals; 生き物いきもの is the wider "living thing." Saying 動物どうぶつが好すき when you love insects may leave people confused.
  • Saying 魚さかな is not a living thing. Fish are 生き物いきもの and biologically 動物どうぶつ. They are just often named on their own.
  • Using ある for a pet. Animals are alive, so use いる: 猫ねこがいる, not 猫ねこがある.
  • Using the wrong counter. 匹ひき for small animals, 頭あたま for large ones, 羽はね for birds. A native speaker will not correct a 匹ひき for a medium-sized animal, but 頭あたま for a goldfish would sound odd.
  • Thinking きつね and たぬき only mean real animals. In stories, they often mean spirits who can change shape.

Practice

Build each answer before opening it. Questions 4 and 5 are a pair — the category word versus the name of one animal.

1. Write "animal" in kanji and in hiragana.

Show answer

動物どうぶつ / どうぶつ — 動どう is "move" and 物もの is "thing." Both writings are correct; hiragana is common in children's text.

2. Say "I like animals," thinking of dogs and cats.

Show answer

動物どうぶつが好すきです — 好すき marks the thing you like with が. 動物どうぶつ fits when you picture familiar mammals.

3. Say "I like living creatures," including insects and fish.

Show answer

生き物いきものが好すきです — 生き物いきもの is the wider "living thing," so it covers insects and fish more naturally than 動物どうぶつ does.

4. Which word is a category of animals: 動物どうぶつ or 犬いぬ?

Show answer

動物どうぶつ — 犬いぬ is one kind of animal, and 動物どうぶつ is the group name. This is the pair to question 5.

5. You want to say "a dog" in a sentence like "A dog is here." Which word do you use, and which verb?

Show answer

犬いぬがいます — name the specific animal, and use いる for living things. Question 4 is about the category; this one is about one animal.

6. Say "We have two cats at home."

Show answer

うちには猫ねこが二匹にひきいます — a cat is a small animal, so 匹ひき is the counter, and いる is the verb for living things.

7. Which counter fits a horse, and which fits a bird?

Show answer

馬うまは頭あたま、鳥とりは羽はね — large animals take 頭あたま (tou), and birds take 羽はね (wa).

8. What is a ケモミミ character?

Show answer

A character with animal ears — it is short for 獣耳けものみみ, "beast ears." It is a fan-culture word, not a word for a real animal.

9. What does 動物園どうぶつえん mean, and what does 園その add?

Show answer

Zoo — 動物どうぶつ plus 園その ("garden"), the same 園その as in 公園こうえん (park). It marks a place made for a purpose.

10. In an anime, a character says きつねに化ばかされた. What happened?

Show answer

They were tricked by a fox — 化ばかす means to fool someone by changing shape, and the passive form means the speaker was the one fooled.

Try describing your pet, or the fox who turns into a person in your favourite anime, with 動物どうぶつ, 生き物いきもの and ペット in a trial lesson and see which word fits each.

FAQ

Is it 動物どうぶつ or どうぶつ? Both are correct. 動物どうぶつ is the standard kanji form, and どうぶつ is common in children's books, signs, and learner materials.

Is a pet a 動物どうぶつ? Yes, a pet is an animal, but ペット describes how the animal lives with you, not the species. You can say 犬いぬを飼かっている to say you keep a dog, and ペットを飼かっている to say you have a pet.

What is the difference between 獣けもの and 動物どうぶつ? 動物どうぶつ is a neutral word for animals. 獣けもの (けもの) sounds like a wild beast and is used in a story-like or dramatic way.

Why are the counters for animals different? Japanese counters group things by shape or size. Small animals are 匹ひき, large animals are 頭あたま, and birds are 羽はね. There is no deep logic to memorize; it is just how the language sorts the world.

Do I need to learn the kanji for every animal? Not yet. Learn the hiragana first, then pick up common ones like 犬いぬ, 猫ねこ, 鳥とり, 魚さかな and 馬うま, which show up on signs and in books. Rarer ones such as 兎うさぎ can wait.

Can I use 動物園どうぶつえん to mean a petting zoo or an aquarium? 動物園どうぶつえん is a zoo. An aquarium is 水族館すいぞくかん, and a petting zoo is often called ふれあい動物園どうぶつえん (a "touch and meet" zoo).

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab, and each line becomes one card.

動物	どうぶつ — animal
生き物	いきもの — living thing, creature
ペット	ペット — pet
獣	けもの — wild beast
ケモミミ	ケモミミ — character with animal ears (slang)
動物園	どうぶつえん — zoo
水族館	すいぞくかん — aquarium
犬	いぬ — dog
猫	ねこ — cat
兎	うさぎ — rabbit
鳥	とり — bird
魚	さかな — fish
馬	うま — horse
牛	うし — cow, cattle
豚	ぶた — pig
熊	くま — bear
狐	きつね — fox
狸	たぬき — tanuki, raccoon dog
猿	さる — monkey
匹	ひき — counter for small animals
頭	とう — counter for large animals
羽	わ — counter for birds
化ける	ばける — to transform, to take another shape
化かす	ばかす — to fool by transforming
いる	いる — to be (living things)

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime, so most of the example sentences on this blog come from lines I've actually heard in class and on screen — and foxes that turn into people are a surprisingly common reason learners start asking about animal words. For practice with feedback, Book a trial lesson · $13, or work through Japanese practice exercises first.

Sources: the author's own lessons and standard reference grammars.

More drills like the ones above, plus a timed JLPT-style mock test: Practice · N5 · Read something at this level: JLPT N5 stories with audio

More “Animals, Nature & Everyday Places in Japanese” articles →

Want to try this in a real conversation?

30-minute trial lesson, $13. Times shown in your own timezone.

Practice it out loud with a Tokyo native. ★5.0 from 358 italki reviews.

See how the lessons work →

Book a trial lesson · $13