Essential Vocabulary for Sports and Exercise in Japanese
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Sports and exercise are essential components of our daily lives. Engaging in physical activity allows us to maintain our physical health and lead a healthy and active lifestyle.
In this article, we will go over key vocabulary and phrases to help you learn to talk about sports and exercise in Japanese.
Content
- Vocabulary for Sports
- Popular Sports in Japan
- Talking About Sports in Japanese
- Useful Phrases for the Conversation
Vocabulary for Sports
Sports and exercise are an important part of many people’s lives in Japan as well. Being able to talk about sports and exercise is useful for daily conversations and for making friends who share similar interests.
Here are some common words related to sports in Japanese:
- Sports – スポーツ (supōtsu)
- Ball – ボール (bōru)
- Bat – バット (batto)
- Glove – グローブ (gurōbu)
- Net – ネット (netto)
- Goal – ゴール (gōru)
- Score – スコア (sukoa)
- Team – チーム (chīmu)
- Game – 試合 (shiai)
- Tournament – 大会 (taikai)
- Champion – チャンピオン (chanpion)
- Medal – メダル (medaru)
- Trophy – トロフィー (torofī)
- Win – 勝つ (katsu)
- Lose – 負ける (makeru)
- Draw – 引き分ける (hikiwakeru)
Some key verbs:
- To play – する (suru)
- To watch – 見る (miru)
- To cheer – 応援する (ōen suru)
- To compete – 対戦する (taisen suru)
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Popular Sports in Japan
Japan has a thriving sports culture with many popular spectator sports and athletic activities.
Here are some of the most popular sports in Japan:
- Baseball – 野球 (yakyū)
- Soccer – サッカー (sakkā)
- Tennis – テニス (tenisu)
- Golf – ゴルフ (gorufu)
- Martial arts like judo, karate, aikido – 柔道 (jūdō), 空手 (karate), 合気道 (aikidō)
- Sumo wrestling – 相撲 (sumō)
- Figure skating – フィギュアスケート (figyua sukēto)
Some other sports that are popular include:
- Volleyball – バレーボール (barēbōru)
- Basketball – バスケットボール (basukettobōru)
- Skiing/snowboarding – スキー (sukī), スノーボード (sunōbōdo)
- Swimming – 水泳 (suiē)
Talking About Sports in Japanese
Being able to have conversations about sports is important for making friends and fitting into an active sports culture like Japan’s.
There are some simple Japanese phrases and grammar you can use to talk about playing sports, watching games or matches, and supporting your favorite teams.
Here are some useful expressions to help you discuss sports in Japanese:
Talking About Playing Sports
To say you play a sport, use the verb する (suru) after naming the sport. For example:
- I play baseball – 私は野球をする (Watashi wa yakyū o suru)
- Do you play soccer? – あなたはサッカーをする? (Anata wa sakkā o suru?)
You can also use the verb プレーする (purē suru) specifically for playing sports:
- I play tennis – テニスをプレーする (tenisu o purē suru)
To ask someone if they want to play, you can say:
- 一緒に野球しようか (issho ni yakyū shiyō ka – Let’s play baseball together)
Talking About Watching Sports
To say you watch a sport, use the verb 見る (miru) after naming the sport. For example:
- I watch sumo wrestling – 私は相撲を見る (Watashi wa sumō o miru)
- Did you watch the soccer game? – あなたはそのサッカーの試合を見た? (Anata wa sono sakkā no shiai o mita?)
You can also use the verb 観戦する (kansēn suru) specifically for watching sports:
- I’m going to watch the tennis tournament – テニスの大会を観戦しに行く (tenisu no taikai o kansēn shi ni iku)
Talking About Supporting Teams
To say you support a certain sports team, use the verb 応援する (ōen suru):
- I support the Yomiuri Giants baseball team – 私は読売ジャイアンツを応援する (Watashi wa Yomiuri Jaiantsu o ōen suru)
You can also say:
- My favorite team is… – 私の好きなチームは… (Watashi no suki na chīmu wa…)
To ask who someone supports, you can say:
- どのチームを応援していますか? (Dono chīmu o ōen shite imasu ka? – Which team do you support?)
Talking About Doing Exercise
Let’s go over vocabulary and phrases related to doing exercise in Japanese.
“Exercise” in Japanese is 運動 (undō). Some examples:
- To exercise – 運動する (undō suru)
- I exercise twice a week – 私は1週間に2回運動する (Watashi wa isshūkan ni nikai undō suru)
Here are some common types of exercise:
- Walking – ウォーキング (wōkingu)
- Jogging – ジョギング (jogingu)
- Swimming – 水泳 (suiē)
- Cycling – サイクリング (saikuringu)
- Aerobics – エアロビクス (earo bikusu)
- Yoga – ヨガ (yoga)
- Weight training – ウェイトトレーニング (weito torēningu)
You can also use the verb トレーニングする (torēningu suru) to say you are doing training for a sport:
- I do soccer training twice a week – 私は1週間に2回サッカーのトレーニングをする (Watashi wa isshūkan ni nikai sakkā no torēningu o suru)
To talk about going to the gym, use ジムに行く (jimu ni iku – go to the gym).
Talking About Sports Events
Here are some words related to sports events:
- Sports event – スポーツイベント (supōtsu ibento)
- Stadium – スタジアム (sutajiamu)
- Arena – アリーナ (arīna)
- Tournament – 大会 (taikai)
- Game/match – 試合 (shiai)
- Championship – 選手権 (senshuken)
You can say:
- The tennis tournament starts tomorrow – テニスの大会は明日から始まる (tenisu no taikai wa ashita kara hajimaru)
- Are you watching the championship game? – あなたはその選手権の試合を見るの? (anata wa sono senshuken no shiai o miru no?)
Useful Phrases for the Conversation
Here are some useful phrases related to sports and exercise:
- Do your best! – がんばって! (Ganbatte! – Good luck! Keep at it!)
- Don’t give up! – 諦めないで! (Akiramenaide! – Don’t give up!)
- Go for it! – 頑張れ! (Ganbare! – Go for it! You can do it!)
- Keep it up! – がんばれ! (Ganbare! – Keep it up! Keep at it!)
- I did my best – 最善を尽くしました (Saizen o tsukushimashita – I did my best)
- One more time! – もう一回! (Mō ikkai! – One more time! Once more!)
- Nice shot! – 良いショット! (Yoi shotto! – Nice shot!)
- Good game! – 良いゲームでした! (Yoi gēmu deshita! – Good game!)
一番好きなスポーツは何ですか？ – Ichiban suki na supootsu wa nandesuka? – What’s your favorite sport?
運動は苦手ですか？得意ですか？- Undou wa nigate desuka? Tokui desuka? – Are you bad at athletics? Or good at it?
スポーツは好きですか？- Supootsu wa sukidesuka? – Do you like sports?
普段どんなスポーツをしますか？- Fudan donna supootsu o shimasuka? – What kinds of sports do you normally do?
小さいころスポーツをしましたか？- Chiisai koro supootsu o shimashitaka? – Did you do any sports as a child?
スポーツ観戦は好きですか？- Supootsu kansen wa suki desuka? – Do you like to watch sports?
日本の伝統的なスポーツをしたことがありますか？- Nihon no dentouteki na supootsu o shita koto ga arimasu ka? – Have you ever done any Japanese traditional sports?
試してみたい日本のスポーツは何ですか？- Tameshite mitai nihon no supootsu wa nandesuka? – What Japanese sport would you be interested in trying?
好きなスポーツ選手は誰です？- Suki na supootsu senshi wa dare desuka? – Do you have any sports players that you like?
＿＿＿＿さんの国には特別なスポーツがありますか？- ____san no kuni ni wa tokubetsu na supootsu ga arimasuka? – What kinds of special sports exist in your country?
＿＿＿＿さんの国ではどのスポーツが人気ですか？- ____san no kuni de wa dono supootsu ga ninki desuka? – Which sports are popular in your country?
毎日どれくらい運動をしますか？- Mainichi dore kurai undou o shimasuka? – How much do you exercise per day?
オリンピックについてどう思いますか？- Orinpikku ni tsuite dou omoimasu ka? – What do you think about the olympics?
やってみたいスポーツはありますか？- Yatte mitai supootsu wa arimasuka? – Is there a sport you want to try?
一番難しそうなスポーツは何だと思いますか？- Ichiban muzukashisou na supootsu wa nandato omoi masuka? – What do you think is the hardest sport?
一番簡単そうなスポーツは何だと思いますか？- Ichiban kantansou na supootsu wa nan dato omoi masuka? – What do you think is the easiest sport?
一番危なそうなスポーツは何だと思いますか？- Ichiban abunasou na supootsu wa nandato omoi masuka? – What do you think is the most dangerous sport?
嫌いなスポーツは何ですか？- Kirai na supootsu wa nandesuka? – What is a sport you don’t like?
生でスポーツの試合を見たことがありますか？- Nama de supootsu no shiai o mita koto ga arimasuka? – Have you seen a sports match live? (in person)
eスポーツについてどう思いますか？- Ii supootsu ni tsuite douomoimasuka? – What do you think about e-sports? (is it still a sport?)
Conclusion
I hope this has provided a helpful introduction to talking about sports and exercise in Japanese. Start by learning key vocabulary words for sports and exercise activities.
Use verbs like する, プレーする, and 見る to talk about playing and watching sports. Express support for teams using 応援する. Describe your exercise routine with words like 運動 and ジム.
Know phrases for encouragement. With practice, you’ll be able to discuss sports and workouts in your Japanese conversations.
