The Japanese word for penguin is jinchou (traditional Japanese) and pengin (English loanword). Check out this list of penguin species translated into Japanese below.
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| Romanji | Kanji | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Penguin じんちょう | Jinchou | 人鳥 | |
| Penguin (English loanword) ペンギン | Pengin | None | |
| Emperor penguin こうていペンギン | Kōtei pengin | 皇帝ペンギン | |
| Humboldt penguin フンボルトペンギン | Funboruto pengin | None | |
| King penguin キングペンギン | Kingu pengin | None |
Interesting facts about penguins
The meaning behind the kanji for penguin
The kanji for penguin is 人鳥. The 人 kanji means person, while the 鳥 kanji means bird. Therefore, it directly translates to person (human) bird and they are named so because although birds, they do look like little humans with their upright walk.
Are there penguins in Japan?
Penguins are only naturally found in the southern hemisphere and can be found in abundance in places such as Antarctica and New Zealand – with the exception of Galapagos penguins which are found just off the Ecuadorian coast in South America.
The good news is that penguins can be found in Japan at the Tobu Zoo in Saitama Prefecture which has a Humboldt penguin exhibit and the Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido with its walk-through penguin exhibit featuring King penguins. Also, a lot of penguin bars have started popping up in Japan over the last few years too.