Japanese Animals — Memory
Flip the cards and find the pairs — a picture and its Japanese word, like ライオン, ゾウ and トラ. Each pair you find helps the word stick, with the English meaning right there.
Flip two cards to find a matching pair — a picture and its word.
You found every pair! 🎉
How to play
- 1
Flip a card
Tap any card to turn it over and reveal a picture or a word.
- 2
Find its pair
Flip a second card to match each picture with its English word.
- 3
Clear the board
Find every pair to win, then play again with a fresh set.
Japanese animal words in this game
Here is the full list of words in this game, each with a picture and its English meaning. Use it to study before or after you play.
| Picture | Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ライオン | lion | |
| ゾウ | elephant | |
| トラ | tiger | |
| サル | monkey | |
| シマウマ | zebra | |
| キリン | giraffe | |
| 犬 | dog | |
| 猫 | cat | |
| ウサギ | rabbit | |
| クマ | bear | |
| パンダ | panda | |
| キツネ | fox | |
| 牛 | cow | |
| 豚 | pig | |
| 馬 | horse | |
| カエル | frog | |
| ペンギン | penguin | |
| フクロウ | owl | |
| 魚 | fish | |
| ヘビ | snake | |
| アヒル | duck | |
| ニワトリ | chicken | |
| カメ | turtle | |
| イルカ | dolphin |
Japanese animals — questions & answers
How do you say "animals" in Japanese?
The Japanese word for "animals" is 動物（どうぶつ）. This game teaches the most common animal names in Japanese, each with a picture and its English meaning.
Are the words written in kanji or kana?
In the everyday written form — katakana for words like ライオン (lion) and simple kanji for basics like 犬 (dog). Every word is shown with a picture and its English meaning, so you can match and remember them even before you can read every character.
Is this game free?
Yes — it runs right in your browser, needs no sign-up or download, and you can replay it as many times as you like.
Want thousands more Japanese words?
Our Japanese app teaches thousands of words with pictures, native-speaker audio and fun mini games — free on Google Play and the App Store.