Don’t worry! Japanese body parts are the same as everyone else’s 😉 But one of the first things you’re taught when you learn a language as a child is all the parts of the body. In America, we even have a song for it: “Head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes…” You know how it goes! Of course those are important body parts to learn (along with eyes and ears and mouth and nose) but what about all the other body parts? Those weird things with very specific names like your belly button or your pinky finger? Or what about the space of skin in between your eyebrows?? Today we thought we’d talk about the human body and all those weird parts it has– in Japanese!
Japanese Body Parts
Fingernail / Toenail (tsume)
Interesting that Japanese has only one word for fingernails and toenails! In both English and Japanese there are different words for each of your fingers and the thumb, but adults will use one version while children are taught another! For children, each digit is a part of your family. Maybe it’s like playing “This Little Piggy” in English?
Thumb (oya yubi)
お父さん指（おとうさんゆび) Otosan yubi = “dad finger”
Index finger (hitosashi yubi）
お母さん指（おかあさんゆび) Okasan yubi = “mom finger”
Middle finger (naka yubi）
お兄さん指（おにいさんゆび) Onisan yubi = “big brother finger”
What about that little part of your eye where the top eyelid meets the bottom one? Do you know the name for that in English? Me neither, but I recently learned it’s called the canthus. This applies to either the outer or the inner meeting of eyelids. In Japanese, however, they have a different word for each side.
Inner Eye Corner (megashira) – “Head of Eyes”
Of course, if the one side is known as the head of eyes, the other side will be known as the butt!
Outer Eye Corner (mejiri) – “Butt of Eyes”
Nape of the Neck (unaji) – In Japanese culture, this body part is one of the “sexy” parts of women. When Japanese women wear kimono, they usually tie up their hair and show their unaji, and it’s very attractive to men. Do you think this is the same in Western culture?
Did you know that the space of skin between your eyebrows is called your glabella? In Japanese it’s known as miken and there is even a common saying that uses the word!