LESSON NOTES · レッスンノート

N5Lesson notes · Oct 4, 2026

Door in Japanese: ドア, 扉とびら (とびら), 戸こ, 引ひき戸こ, and ドアが閉しまります

"Door" in Japanese is usually ドア. 扉とびら (とびら) is a more formal or dramatic word, used for gates, heavy doors and fantasy portals. 戸こ (と) is a traditional door, especially a sliding one: 引ひき戸こ (ひきど). On trains, you will hear ドアが閉しまります, "The doors are closing".

Japanese homes mix Western doors with traditional sliding ones, and the vocabulary follows. ドア is the everyday word, 戸こ shows up in older houses and compounds, and 扉とびら adds drama in stories and anime. This post covers the words, the verbs for opening and closing, and the door phrases you hear every day.

How do you say "door" in Japanese?

What is ドア?

ドア is the everyday word for a door, especially a hinged Western-style one or a car or train door.

ドアを開あけてください。 — Please open the door. (polite) ドアをそっと閉しめた。 — I closed the door quietly. (casual)

For the open and close verb pairs, see transitive and intransitive verbs.

What is 扉とびら?

扉とびら (とびら) is a door with a formal or dramatic feel: a heavy gate, a temple door, or a portal in a story.

重おもい扉とびらを開あけた。 — I opened the heavy door. (casual) 新あたらしい世界せかいへの扉とびら。 — A door to a new world. (noun phrase, dramatic)

What is 戸こ?

戸こ (と) is a traditional door, especially a sliding one. 引ひき戸こ (ひきど) is a sliding door, and 戸締とじまり (とじまり) is locking up the house.

引ひき戸こをゆっくり開あけた。 — I slowly slid the door open. (casual) 寝ねる前まえに戸締とじまりをしてね。 — Lock up before you go to bed. (casual)

What door phrases will you hear?

What does ドアが閉しまります mean?

ドアが閉しまります, "The doors are closing", is a standard train announcement. 閉しまる (しまる) is "to close" by itself.

ドアが閉しまります。ご注意ちゅういください。 — The doors are closing. Please be careful. (polite, announcement)

In ドアが閉しまります the doors take が because nobody is named as closing them, whereas 閉しめる with を needs a person, a split that close in Japanese reduces to asking "who is doing it?"

For train words, see train in Japanese.

What is 自動じどうドア?

自動じどうドア (じどうドア) is an automatic door. Japanese taxis have an automatic rear door too.

自動じどうドアが開ひらかない。 — The automatic door won't open. (casual)

How do you knock?

ノックする is to knock. Japanese job interviews famously expect a knock, often three times.

ドアをノックしてから入はいってください。 — Please knock before you come in. (polite)

Word Reading Meaning
ドア ドア door
扉とびら とびら door (formal, dramatic)
戸こ と traditional door
引ひき戸こ ひきど sliding door
自動じどうドア じどうドア automatic door
戸締とじまり とじまり locking up
ノックする ノックする to knock
閉しまる しまる to close (by itself)

Beyond the basics

What are ふすま and 障子しょうじ?

ふすま are opaque paper-covered sliding doors between rooms, and 障子しょうじ (しょうじ) are sliding doors with translucent paper that let light in.

障子しょうじから光ひかりが入はいってくる。 — Light comes in through the shoji screens. (casual)

What does 門もん mean?

門もん (もん) is a gate, such as a school gate or temple gate.

校門こうもんの前まえで待ち合まちあわせしよう。 — Let's meet in front of the school gate. (casual)

What does 扉とびらを開ひらく mean figuratively?

扉とびらを開ひらく, "to open the door", is used figuratively for opening new possibilities.

この経験けいけんが新あたらしい扉とびらを開ひらいてくれた。 — This experience opened new doors for me. (casual)

What does ドアに指ゆびを挟はさむ mean?

挟はさむ (はさむ) is "to pinch" or "to catch". Train and elevator signs warn ドアに指ゆびを挟はさまれないようご注意ちゅういください, "Be careful not to get your fingers caught in the door".

ドアに指ゆびを挟はさまれないようご注意ちゅういください。 — Please be careful not to get your fingers caught in the door. (polite, sign)

Common mistakes

  • Saying ドアが閉しめる. It is ドアが閉しまる or ドアを閉しめる.
  • Using 扉とびら for an ordinary room door in casual talk. ドア is natural.
  • Reading 引ひき戸こ as ひきと. It is ひきど.
  • Reading 戸締とじまり as こじまり. It is とじまり.
  • Calling shoji screens ドア. They are 障子しょうじ.

Practice

Try each answer before opening it. Questions 1 and 2 are a pair: you open the door versus the door closes.

1. Ask politely for someone to open the door.

Show answer

ドアを開あけてください。 — ドアを開あける.

2. A train announcement says the doors are closing. What does it say?

Show answer

ドアが閉しまります。 — 閉しまる with が. This is the pair to question 1.

3. Say "I closed the door quietly."

Show answer

ドアをそっと閉しめた。 — 閉しめる.

4. Say "I opened the heavy door."

Show answer

重おもい扉とびらを開あけた。 — 扉とびら.

5. Say "I slowly slid the door open."

Show answer

引ひき戸こをゆっくり開あけた。 — 引ひき戸こ.

6. Remind someone to lock up before bed.

Show answer

寝ねる前まえに戸締とじまりをしてね。 — 戸締とじまり.

7. Say "The automatic door won't open."

Show answer

自動じどうドアが開ひらかない。 — 自動じどうドア.

8. Ask politely for someone to knock before coming in.

Show answer

ドアをノックしてから入はいってください。 — ノックする.

9. Say "This experience opened new doors for me."

Show answer

この経験けいけんが新あたらしい扉とびらを開ひらいてくれた。 — figurative 扉とびら.

10. Fix: ドアが閉しめます。 (train announcement)

Show answer

ドアが閉しまります。 — 閉しまる with が.

Use a trial lesson to practise the train announcement ドアが閉しまります and compare ドア, 扉とびら and 引ひき戸こ by describing doors you know.

FAQ

How do you say "door" in Japanese? ドア; also 扉とびら (formal) and 戸こ (traditional).

What is 引ひき戸こ? A sliding door.

What does ドアが閉しまります mean? "The doors are closing."

What is 戸締とじまり? Locking up the house.

What are 障子しょうじ and ふすま? Traditional sliding paper doors.

How do you say "knock"? ノックする.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab — the first column becomes the front, the second the back.

ドア	ドア — door
扉	とびら — door (formal)
戸	と — traditional door
引き戸	ひきど — sliding door
自動ドア	じどうドア — automatic door
戸締まり	とじまり — locking up
閉まる	しまる — to close (by itself)
障子	しょうじ — paper sliding door
門	もん — gate
経験	けいけん — experience
挟む	はさむ — to pinch, catch

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. ドアが閉しまります is the announcement every visitor hears on their first train ride, and 扉とびら is the word that shows up whenever an anime hero steps into another world. For practice with feedback, Book a trial lesson · $13, or try the Japanese practice exercises first.

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

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