Within a week of arriving in Japan you will need to read a menu, a supermarket label and a set of cooking instructions. None of it is difficult Japanese, and almost none of it is taught in textbooks.
Menus
Most of a menu is nouns, and the useful patterns are few:
- 定食 (ていしょく) - a set meal, usually with rice, soup and sides. Reliable value.
- 丼 (どんぶり / どん) - a rice bowl: 牛丼, 親子丼
- ～焼き - grilled: 焼き魚, お好み焼き
- ～揚げ - fried: 唐揚げ
- 大盛り (おおもり) - large portion; 並 (なみ) - regular
- おかわり自由 - free refills
Prices are usually in kanji numerals or Arabic digits, often with 税込 (tax included) or 税別 (tax not included) beside them - a distinction worth knowing before you get to the till.
Supermarket labels
Four things to find on any package:
| Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 賞味期限 | Best-before date |
| 消費期限 | Use-by date (the stricter one) |
| 原材料 | Ingredients |
| 要冷蔵 / 冷凍 | Keep refrigerated / frozen |
消費期限 is the one that matters for safety. 賞味期限 is about quality.
Discount stickers are worth learning: 半額 (half price), ～割引 (~0% off - 3割引 is 30% off), 値下げ (reduced).
Ingredients you may need to avoid
If you have dietary or religious restrictions this is essential rather than convenient:
豚肉 (pork), 牛肉 (beef), 鶏肉 (chicken), 魚 (fish), えび (shrimp), 卵 (egg), 乳 (dairy), 小麦 (wheat), 大豆 (soy), ゼラチン, 酒 / みりん (alcohol used in cooking).
Learn the ones relevant to you properly, in kanji, before you fly. A phone camera translation is a useful backup and not a substitute.
Cooking and heating instructions
温めてください - please heat. 電子レンジ (microwave) with a wattage and a time: 500Wで2分.
お湯を入れる (add hot water) and 線まで (to the line) will get you through instant noodles, which is more relevant to a first week than it sounds.
Why this is good exam practice too
Menus and labels are exactly the kind of dense practical text the JFT-Basic reading section uses: short, factual, full of numbers, with one detail that answers the question. How to read a Japanese notice.
Practising on real packaging is free, and the vocabulary repeats endlessly - which is what makes it stick.
How to practise before you arrive
Japanese supermarket and restaurant websites publish their menus and product pages. Pick one, set yourself a question - what is the cheapest set meal, does this contain pork - and answer it.
Ten minutes, most days. It is the same skill the exam tests and the same skill your first week requires: Japanese for daily life.