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Learn Japanese Kanji – Everyday Kanji (Restaurant Signs)

Hi everyone!
Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we’re going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That’s right – kanji seen and used everyday!

The theme for this week is restaurant signs. Let’s take a look!


Everyday Kanji week 10 - Restaurant Signs (ramen and other fastfood) ①

全部入り (zenbu iri): 全部 (zenbu) means “all” and 入り (iri) means “contains”. So what all does this ramen have in it?

The various toppings are listed on the menu. So, 全部入り means “contains all toppings”, which refers to toppings such as egg, meat or cod roe.

全部入り (zenbu iri) = all included
● 全 (zen) = whole
● 部 (bu) = section
● 入 (iri) = enter

Extra (possible toppings):
味玉子 (aji tamago) = seasoned boiled egg
● 味 (aji) = taste
● 玉 (tama) = ball
● 子 (go) = child

角肉 (kakuniku) = a cube shaped boiled meat
● 角 (kaku) = cube
● 肉 (niku) = meat

めんたいこ = a kind of salted cod roe


Everyday Kanji week 10 - Restaurant Signs (ramen and other fastfood) ②

具の追加できまっす!(gu no tsuika dekimassu): This sign is also from a ramen shop! 追加 (tsuika) means “to add.” Do you know what you can add to your ramen?

具 (gu) refers to the extra ingredients/toppings that go into ramen or other dishes, such as 味玉子(seasoned egg), 角肉 (boiled meat), めんたいこ(salted cod roe) etc. So, 具の追加できまっす means “you can add extra toppings.”

具の追加できまっす (gu no tsuika dekimassu) = you can add extra toppings
● 具 (gu) = topping
● 追加 (tsuika) = to add

ご遠慮なく (go-enryo naku) = feel free to do ~
● 遠 (en) = distant
● 慮 (ryo) = thought


Everyday Kanji week 10 - Restaurant Signs (ramen and other fastfood) ③

お願い (onegai): お願い means “request.” This is a request at a ramen shop. Can you tell what kind of request it is from the picture?

大きな音 means “loud noise,” 鼻 means “nose” and 鼻をかまないで means “don’t blow your nose.” So, this signs means “don’t blow your nose loudly.”

お願い (o-negai) = request
● 願 (nega-i) = request

大きな音 (ōkina oto) = loud noise
● 大 (ō) = big
● 音 (oto) = sound

鼻 (hana) = nose


Everyday Kanji week 10 - Restaurant Signs (ramen and other fastfood) ④

並盛 (namimori): 並 (nami) means “medium” and 盛 (mori) means “to serve food in a bowl or plate”. So, this refers to a medium-sized helping of food. Do you know what other sizes they have? You willl learn that in the next photo.

You can often specify the size of the helping of rice for the rice bowl dishes, as you can see in this photo.

並盛 (nami mori) = medium size of helping
● 並 (nami) = medium
● 盛 (mori) = serving

単品 (tanpin) = single item, item on its own (and not part of a set)
● 単 (tan) = single
● 品 (pin) = item


Everyday Kanji week 10 - Restaurant Signs (ramen and other fastfood) ⑤

大盛り(ōmori): This word indicates the size of a serving of food. 大(ō) means “large” and 大盛り (ōmori) means “large helping of food”.

This sign says “you can have a large helping for free, but a second helping is 150 yen.” This is talking about the rice. 無料(muryō) means “free of charge” and 有料 means “at a charge” おかわり means “second helping” or “refill”

大盛り (ōmori) = large helping
● 大 (ō) = big
● 盛 (mo(ri)) = serving

無料 (muryō) = free of charge
● 無 (mu) = nothing
● 料 (ryō) = charge

有料 (yūryō) = charged
● 有 (yū) = have
● 料 (ryō) = charge

★ If you think you can remember them all, try testing yourself with this video on Youtube!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCZQepBYbcU
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