Japanese Breakfast Words: Washoku or Yōshoku, Nattō and Baikingu

At a Japanese hotel the breakfast question is Washoku to yōshoku, dochira ni nasaimasu ka: Japanese-style or Western-style? Washoku (和食) means rice, miso soup, grilled fish and small side dishes; yōshoku (洋食) means bread, eggs and coffee.

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What you need to know

Japanese Breakfast Words: Washoku or Yōshoku, Nattō and Baikingu

Breakfast is asagohan (朝ごはん) in conversation and chōshoku (朝食) on signs, vouchers and hotel forms. Travellers meet it in three settings: a set tray at a ryokan or business hotel, a buffet that Japanese calls baikingu, and the morning set meal at a chain restaurant. Each one comes with a short exchange, usually about which style you want and what time you will eat. This guide gives you the words on the tray, including the two items visitors hesitate over, nattō and raw egg, and the polite sentences for choosing, declining and asking for more rice.

Washoku is the Japanese-style breakfast and yōshoku the Western-style one; answer with the word plus de onegai shimasu.

A Japanese tray is rice, miso soup, grilled fish and small sides such as tamagoyaki, pickles, nori and umeboshi.

To skip nattō politely, say Nattō wa nigate desu or Nattō nashi de onegai shimasu.

Baikingu means a buffet, and chōshokuken is the breakfast voucher you hand over at the door.

Washoku or yōshoku: the question you will be asked

Hotels and ryokan that serve a set breakfast ask you to choose a style, sometimes the evening before. Wa (和) stands for Japan and yō (洋) for the West, and shoku (食) is a meal. Where there is no set tray, the same two words label the two halves of the buffet.

Four picture cards: a rice bowl for Japanese-style breakfast, bread for Western-style, cutlery for a buffet and a ticket for the breakfast voucher.
Two styles to choose between, then the two words printed on hotel breakfast signs.
JapaneseRomajiMeaning
和食WashokuJapanese-style meal
洋食YōshokuWestern-style meal
バイキングBaikinguBuffet
朝食券ChōshokukenBreakfast voucher
和食と洋食、どちらになさいますか。Washoku to yōshoku, dochira ni nasaimasu ka.Staff: Japanese-style or Western-style?
和食でお願いします。Washoku de onegai shimasu.You: Japanese-style, please.
洋食でお願いします。Yōshoku de onegai shimasu.You: Western-style, please.

What is on a Japanese breakfast tray

A washoku tray is built around rice and soup, with fish as the main dish and several small plates. Nothing is sweet. Eat in any order, moving between rice and the other dishes.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
ご飯GohanSteamed rice
味噌汁MisoshiruMiso soup
焼き魚YakizakanaGrilled fish
卵焼きTamagoyakiRolled omelette
納豆NattōFermented soybeans
漬物TsukemonoPickles
海苔NoriDried seaweed sheets
梅干しUmeboshiSalty pickled plum

The fish is most often salted salmon or mackerel. Nori at breakfast is usually seasoned and comes in small packs: lay a sheet over rice and pinch it up with your chopsticks. Umeboshi is far saltier and sourer than it looks, so take a small piece with plenty of rice.

Nattō: how to eat it and how to skip it

Nattō (納豆) is fermented soybeans, sticky and strong-smelling, served in a small pack with sauce and mustard. Stir it well with your chopsticks until it turns stringy, mix in the sauce, and pour it over rice. People who grew up with it love it; many visitors, and many Japanese people, do not.

Declining is easy and causes no offence. The key word is nigate (苦手), not good with, which is softer than saying you dislike something.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
納豆は苦手です。Nattō wa nigate desu.Nattō is not for me.
納豆なしでお願いします。Nattō nashi de onegai shimasu.Without nattō, please.
食べてみます。Tabete mimasu.I will try it.

Raw egg and tamago kake gohan

An egg in its shell on a breakfast tray may be boiled, soft-set or raw. A raw egg is nama tamago (生卵), and it is there for tamago kake gohan (卵かけご飯): crack it over hot rice, add a little soy sauce and mix. A soft-set egg served in a small dish with broth is an onsen tamago (温泉卵).

If you cannot tell which kind you have, ask before you crack it.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
これは生卵ですか。Kore wa nama tamago desu ka.Is this a raw egg?
卵かけご飯Tamago kake gohanRice with raw egg and soy sauce
ご飯のおかわりはできますか。Gohan no okawari wa dekimasu ka.May I have more rice?

Baikingu, vouchers and time slots

Larger hotels serve breakfast as a buffet, called baikingu (バイキング), a use of the word Viking found only in Japan. At check-in you may receive a chōshokuken (朝食券), a breakfast voucher, to hand to staff at the entrance. Ryokan and smaller hotels ask you to choose a time instead.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
朝食券をお預かりします。Chōshokuken o oazukari shimasu.Staff: I will take your breakfast voucher.
お部屋番号をお願いします。Oheya bangō o onegai shimasu.Staff: Your room number, please.
ご朝食は何時になさいますか。Gochōshoku wa nanji ni nasaimasu ka.Staff: What time would you like breakfast?
7時半でお願いします。Shichiji han de onegai shimasu.You: At half past seven, please.
朝食は何時から何時までですか。Chōshoku wa nanji kara nanji made desu ka.You: From what time until what time is breakfast?
朝食会場はどこですか。Chōshoku kaijō wa doko desu ka.You: Where is the breakfast room?

Room numbers are read digit by digit, with maru for zero: room 305 is san maru go. Practise your own number before you go down.

Asa teishoku: breakfast at a chain restaurant

Outside hotels, the Japanese breakfast lives on as asa teishoku (朝定食), a morning set meal. Rice bowl chains and set-meal restaurants serve it in the morning hours: rice, miso soup and a main item, often with a kobachi (小鉢), a small side dish you choose.

Cafés offer a different tradition called mōningu (モーニング), short for morning service: toast and an egg served with your coffee. The Nagoya area is especially known for it.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
朝定食を一つお願いします。Asa teishoku o hitotsu onegai shimasu.One morning set meal, please.
小鉢はどれになさいますか。Kobachi wa dore ni nasaimasu ka.Staff: Which side dish would you like?
納豆以外でお願いします。Nattō igai de onegai shimasu.Anything but nattō, please.
モーニングはまだありますか。Mōningu wa mada arimasu ka.Is the morning set still available?
Key points

A practical way to improve

Practise breakfast as a morning routine, aloud, before you travel. First the choice: Washoku de onegai shimasu, then Yōshoku de onegai shimasu. Then the time: say Shichiji han de onegai shimasu and swap in other times, shichiji, hachiji, hachiji han, until the hours come out quickly. Then name everything on a real or imagined tray, pointing as you go: gohan, misoshiru, yakizakana, tamagoyaki, nattō, tsukemono. On Unihongo you can ask the AI Sensei to play the hotel staff at the breakfast room door and ask you the questions in order. The Hotel Check-in Problem mission is another way to get used to speaking with hotel staff, and the session report afterwards lists corrections and vocabulary.

  1. 1

    Choose one clear goal

    Focus each session on a situation or skill you can actually use.

  2. 2

    Practice actively

    Say complete answers aloud instead of only reading or recognizing Japanese.

  3. 3

    Review and repeat

    Keep useful corrections and revisit the same skill until it feels natural.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is a typical Japanese breakfast?

The classic set is a bowl of rice, miso soup, a piece of grilled fish and several small sides: rolled omelette, pickles, seasoned nori, a pickled plum and often nattō. It is a full savoury meal. At home many people eat something simpler, such as toast or rice with one side.

Why do Japanese hotels call a buffet baikingu?

Baikingu (バイキング) is the English word Viking. The usual explanation is that a Tokyo hotel opened a restaurant called Imperial Viking in the late 1950s, serving a Scandinavian-style smorgasbord, and the name became the everyday word for serve-yourself dining. Byuffe (ビュッフェ) is also used.

How do I say I do not want nattō?

Say Nattō wa nigate desu (納豆は苦手です), nattō is not for me, or Nattō nashi de onegai shimasu (納豆なしでお願いします), without nattō please. Nigate is softer than kirai, dislike, and nobody will be offended: plenty of Japanese people do not eat it either.

What is the difference between asagohan and chōshoku?

They mean the same thing. Asagohan (朝ごはん) is the everyday spoken word. Chōshoku (朝食) is the more formal word, used in writing and by hotel staff, who add the polite go: gochōshoku. As a guest you can use either.

What is tamago kake gohan?

Tamago kake gohan (卵かけご飯) is hot rice with a raw egg and a little soy sauce mixed in. It is a simple, much-loved breakfast, often shortened to TKG. If a whole egg in its shell sits on your tray, this is usually what it is for.

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