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N5Lesson notes · Oct 10, 2026

Meat in Japanese: how do you say and read 肉にく and 牛肉ぎゅうにく, 豚肉ぶたにく, 鶏肉とりにく?

Meat in Japanese is 肉にく (niku), and the kanji is usually read as "niku" on its own — but when it follows 牛うし or 鶏にわとり the first half changes how you read it (豚ぶた stays ぶた).

Searches for "meat in Japanese hiragana" usually come from someone staring at a menu. The good news is that 肉にく is a tiny word with a simple reading. The part that surprises people is the readings of the words built on it: 牛肉ぎゅうにく is gyuu-niku, not "ushi-niku." This article covers the word, the three big meats, minced meat and yakiniku, how menus use "〜肉にく", and how to say you do not eat meat without sounding rude.

The basics

How do you say meat in Japanese, and what is the hiragana?

Meat is 肉にく, read にく (niku). The hiragana is にく, and you can write it that way in a children's book or when you do not know the kanji. In normal writing the kanji 肉にく is common, and it is one of the first food kanji worth learning because it appears everywhere on menus.

肉にくが好すきです。 — I like meat. (polite, a preference) 肉にくを食たべます。 — I eat meat. (polite, a habit or a plan)

Notice the same particle pattern you know from other food words: 好すき takes が, and 食たべる takes を. If you want more on the verb, see how to say "eat" in Japanese.

How do you say beef, pork and chicken?

Add the animal in front of 肉にく: 牛肉ぎゅうにく (gyuuniku), 豚肉ぶたにく (butaniku), 鶏肉とりにく (toriniku). The pattern is "animal + 肉にく," so once you know the animal kanji, you can read the whole word.

Meat Japanese Reading
Beef 牛肉ぎゅうにく ぎゅうにく
Pork 豚肉ぶたにく ぶたにく
Chicken 鶏肉とりにく とりにく
Minced meat ひき肉にく ひきにく
Grilled meat (yakiniku style) 焼肉やきにく やきにく

牛肉ぎゅうにくと豚肉ぶたにく、どっちが好すき? — Beef or pork, which do you like better? (casual, asking a friend) 今日きょうの夕ゆうご飯はんは鶏肉とりにくです。 — Tonight's dinner is chicken. (polite, a plain statement)

What is the difference between 肉にく and 肉料理にくりょうり?

肉にく is the meat itself; 肉料理にくりょうり (nikuryouri) is a meat dish. Beginners often only need 肉にく, but if you want to talk about "a meat dish" as a category, add 料理りょうり.

肉料理にくりょうりが多おおいお店みせです。 — It's a shop with many meat dishes. (polite, describing a restaurant)

Beyond the basics

Why is 牛肉ぎゅうにく read ぎゅうにく and not うしにく?

Because the 牛うし in this word uses the Chinese-derived reading ぎゅう, not the native Japanese うし. Japanese kanji have two kinds of readings. The animal itself, on its own, is うし. But in compound words, 牛うし often switches to its Chinese-derived reading: 牛肉ぎゅうにく (ぎゅうにく), 牛乳ぎゅうにゅう (ぎゅうにゅう, milk). So "ushi-niku" is understandable but it is not the word people say.

Pork and chicken behave differently. 豚肉ぶたにく keeps the native reading of 豚ぶた, ぶた, so it is ぶたにく. 鶏肉とりにく is usually read とりにく, with the native とり. (There is also a reading けいにく, which you may see in written or formal text, but とりにく is what you will hear.) There is no rule that predicts this; you learn each word as a unit.

牛肉ぎゅうにくをください。 — Beef, please. (polite, asking at a butcher or a counter) 豚肉ぶたにくは食たべません。 — I don't eat pork. (polite, stating a restriction)

Why do people say just とり for chicken?

In conversation, とり alone often means chicken meat, and the context makes it clear. At a restaurant or when talking about dinner, nobody pauses to say 鶏肉とりにく. People say とり, and the listener understands it as the meat, not the bird.

今日きょうはとりにする。 — I'll have chicken today. (casual, deciding on a menu) とりとぶた、どっち? — Chicken or pork, which? (casual, a quick choice)

This is also why you will see 鶏にわとり and 鳥とり mixed up. 鶏にわとり (にわとり) means chicken (the farm bird), and 鳥とり is the general word for bird. The meat is written 鶏肉とりにく, but a lot of menus and signs use 鳥とり anyway, especially for grilled skewers, so do not be thrown if you see the other one.

What is ひき肉にく, and how is it different from 焼肉やきにく?

ひき肉にく (hikiniku) is minced or ground meat; 焼肉やきにく (yakiniku) is meat you grill. The ひき comes from the verb 挽ひく, meaning to grind, which is why ひき肉にく is often written in hiragana or as 挽ひき肉にく. You buy it for burgers and sauces.

焼肉やきにく is a different thing entirely: it is the style of eating where raw meat is grilled at the table. The word comes from 焼やく (to grill) plus 肉にく, and you will also see it written 焼き肉やきにく, with the き.

ひき肉にくでハンバーグを作つくる。 — I make hamburger steak with minced meat. (casual, a cooking plan) 今夜こんやは焼肉やきにくに行いこう。 — Let's go for yakiniku tonight. (casual, inviting a friend)

How do you read "〜肉にく" on a menu?

Most 〜肉にく words are simple: read the front kanji and add にく. Here are the ones you will see most.

On a menu Reading Meaning
生肉なまにく なまにく raw meat
赤肉あかにく あかにく lean meat
羊肉ようにく ようにく mutton, lamb
肉にくまん にくまん steamed bun with a meat filling
肉にくうどん にくうどん noodle soup with meat
肉屋にくや にくや butcher shop

Two traps are worth knowing. 筋肉きんにく is read きんにく and means muscle, not "meat." And 肉にく sometimes reads differently in compounds, so when a word looks new, check the dictionary instead of guessing.

この肉にくまん、おいしそう。 — This meat bun looks tasty. (casual, reacting to food)

Why do people say お肉にく instead of 肉にく?

お肉にく (oniku) is the polite, softer form, and it is very common in everyday speech. The お in front is a politeness prefix, and with food it often just sounds gentle and a little warm. People say お肉にく at the supermarket, at home, and in cooking shows. Using bare 肉にく is not rude, but it can sound blunt, especially from an adult talking to someone they do not know well.

お肉にくを買かってきて。 — Buy some meat on your way back. (casual, a family request) お肉にくは焼やけましたか。 — Is the meat cooked? (polite, checking)

How does anime say 肉にく?

A shouted 肉にく! is a classic move for a hungry, simple-minded character, and it works because the word is short and loud. In anime, a character who cares more about food than anything else may yell 「肉にく!」 as a single word, with no particle and no verb. It reads as a childlike appetite, played for humor. The same word said calmly by an adult sounds like a plain request.

肉にく!肉にくが食たべたい! — Meat! I want to eat meat! (very casual, a loud craving)

If you want more food vocabulary alongside this one, vegetable in Japanese and fruit in Japanese cover the words that sit next to it.

Common mistakes

  • Reading 牛肉ぎゅうにく as うしにく. The standard reading is ぎゅうにく. 牛うし alone is うし, but in this compound it uses ぎゅう.
  • Mixing up 鶏にわとり and 鳥とり. 鶏肉とりにく is chicken meat. 鳥とり is "bird." You will see 鳥とり on many signs for chicken dishes, but the meat word is 鶏肉とりにく.
  • Dropping the animal and expecting 肉にく to mean beef. In Japanese, 肉にく alone means meat in general. If you want a specific meat, say which one.
  • Using the wrong verb for "I can't eat meat." 肉にくが食たべられません and 肉にくが苦手にがてです are different statements (see the next section). Choosing the wrong one changes the meaning a lot.
  • Forgetting that 好すき takes が. 肉にくを好すきです is wrong; say 肉にくが好すきです.

How do you say "I can't eat meat"?

肉にくが食たべられません means you cannot eat meat — for health, belief or another reason — while 肉にくが苦手にがてです means you do not like it or find it hard. This is the pair that matters most when you travel. 食たべられる is the potential form of 食たべる, so 食たべられません means "I am unable to eat." 苦手にがて (にがて) means "weak point, something I am not good with," which is a gentle way to say you dislike it. For the full vocabulary of dislikes, see picky eater in Japanese.

すみません、肉にくが食たべられません。 — Sorry, I can't eat meat. (polite, at a restaurant) 肉にくはちょっと苦手にがてです。 — I'm not great with meat. (polite, a soft dislike) 私わたしは肉にくを食たべません。 — I don't eat meat. (polite, stating your own choice)

If you want to be clear that it is a firm rule, 食たべられません or 食たべません is safer. If it is only a preference, 苦手にがてです is softer and does not make the cook feel judged.

Practice

Build each answer before opening it. Questions 5 and 6 are a pair — the same situation, two different meanings.

1. How do you read 肉にく in hiragana?

Show answer

にく — the standard reading of 肉にく is niku.

2. Say "beef" in Japanese, in kanji.

Show answer

牛肉ぎゅうにく (ぎゅうにく) — animal + 肉にく, with 牛うし read as ぎゅう in this compound.

3. Is 牛肉ぎゅうにく read うしにく or ぎゅうにく?

Show answer

ぎゅうにく — 牛うし alone is うし, but compounds like 牛肉ぎゅうにく and 牛乳ぎゅうにゅう use the Chinese-derived reading ぎゅう.

4. How do you read 豚肉ぶたにく and 鶏肉とりにく?

Show answer

ぶたにく and とりにく — these two keep the native readings ぶた and とり, so they do not follow the 牛肉ぎゅうにく pattern.

5. You cannot eat meat. Say "Sorry, I can't eat meat."

Show answer

すみません、肉にくが食たべられません — 食たべられません is the potential form, meaning you are unable to eat it. This is the pair to question 6.

6. You can eat meat but do not like it much. Say "I'm not great with meat."

Show answer

肉にくはちょっと苦手にがてです — 苦手にがて means "not my thing," a soft dislike. 5 and 6 sound alike on the plate but mean different things: unable versus not fond of.

7. What does ひき肉にく mean?

Show answer

Minced or ground meat — ひき comes from 挽ひく, to grind.

8. What is the difference between 焼肉やきにく and ひき肉にく?

Show answer

焼肉やきにく is grilled meat or the style of eating it; ひき肉にく is meat that has been ground — one is a way of cooking and eating, the other a form of the meat.

9. What does 筋肉きんにく mean, and how do you read it?

Show answer

きんにく — muscle — it contains 肉にく but means muscle, not meat, so never guess the meaning from the kanji alone.

10. Which is more polite: 肉にく or お肉にく?

Show answer

お肉にく — the お is a politeness prefix. 肉にく is not rude, but お肉にく sounds softer in everyday speech.

A trial lesson is a good place to order 牛肉ぎゅうにく, 豚肉ぶたにく and 鶏肉とりにく as if at a restaurant, and check how you read each one.

FAQ

Is meat written in hiragana or katakana? The normal word is the kanji 肉にく, and in hiragana it is にく. Meat is not a foreign loanword, so you do not use katakana for it. Some foreign meat words are in katakana, such as ラム (lamb) and ベーコン (bacon).

What is the quickest way to ask for meat on a menu? Say 肉にく (niku). If you want something specific, name it: 牛肉ぎゅうにく for beef, 豚肉ぶたにく for pork, 鶏肉とりにく or just とり for chicken.

Is とり the same as 鶏肉とりにく? In conversation about food, yes. とり alone usually means chicken meat. The word 鶏肉とりにく is the fuller, more formal way to say it.

Can I say 肉にくを食たべられません to a restaurant? Yes, and it is natural. The particle can be が (肉にくが食たべられません) or を (肉にくを食たべられません); が is the more common choice with the potential form. If you want to be careful, add すみません at the front and name the meat if it is only one kind.

Does 肉にく ever mean something other than meat? Yes, in compounds. 筋肉きんにく is muscle, and 肉体にくたい (にくたい) means the body, as opposed to the spirit. When a compound is new, check what it means before assuming it is about food.

Why does a character in anime shout 肉にく!? It is an exaggerated way to show a craving, usually for comic effect. It works best for a character whose personality is built around food or energy.

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.

肉	にく — meat
お肉	おにく — meat (polite)
牛肉	ぎゅうにく — beef
豚肉	ぶたにく — pork
鶏肉	とりにく — chicken (meat)
ひき肉	ひきにく — minced meat
焼肉	やきにく — grilled meat, yakiniku
肉料理	にくりょうり — meat dish
鶏	にわとり — chicken (the bird)
鳥	とり — bird
肉まん	にくまん — steamed bun with a meat filling
生肉	なまにく — raw meat
筋肉	きんにく — muscle
食べる	たべる — to eat
食べられません	たべられません — cannot eat (polite)
苦手	にがて — not good at, not fond of
好き	すき — to like, liked

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 "I can't eat meat" is a line travelers ask for before almost anything else. 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

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