The Japanese word for wallet is saifu (財布) and a leather wallet is kawa saifu (皮財布). Find more words with their translations in the following section.
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| Romanji | Kanji | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallet さいふ | Saifu | 財布 | |
| Leather wallet かわざいふ | Kawa saifu | 皮財布 | |
| Virtual wallet かそうさいふ | Kasō saifu | 仮想財布 | |
| Mobile wallet Contactless payments with RFID built into mobile phones. おサイフケータイ | Osaifu kētai | None |
Interesting facts about the Japanese word for wallet
As mentioned, the Japanese word for “wallet” is saifu (財布), which is a combination of two kanji characters: zai (財), which means wealth/money, and fu (布), which means cloth.
The word ‘saifu’ originated during the Edo period in Japan, when people used to carry small purses made of cloth or leather to hold their coins and other small items. Throughout the centuries, these purses evolved into the modern wallet, but the name ‘saifu’ remained.