焼き鳥
yakitori[ja̠kʲito̞ɾʲi]
焼き鳥 (yakitori) is the Japanese phrase for grilled chicken.
焼き鳥 refers specifically to small pieces of chicken that are grilled on a skewer. If you want to specify that something is charcoal-grilled, you can use 炭火焼き or if you are referring to chicken wings, use 手羽.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of 焼き (yaki) meaning 'grilled' and 鳥 (tori) meaning 'bird' or 'chicken'.
How do you pronounce it?
yakitori
Did you know?
- Despite the name 焼き鳥 meaning 'grilled bird', some shops serve 'yakitori' that contains no chicken at all, such as grilled pork or vegetables on skewers.
- Traditional 焼き鳥 is cooked over 'binchotan', a high-grade white charcoal that burns at an extremely high temperature and produces very little smoke.
- A specialized 'yakitori' shop may offer an 'omakase' menu where the chef chooses a sequence of different chicken parts, including rare organs like the heart and liver.
Examples in context
- 焼き鳥を三本ください。Yakitori o sanbon kudasai.Please give me three skewers of grilled chicken.
- 焼き鳥はとても美味しいです。Yakitori wa totemo oishii desu.The grilled chicken is very delicious.
- 今日の夕食は焼き鳥にしましょう。Kyou no yuushoku wa yakitori ni shimashou.Let's have grilled chicken for dinner today.
Example conversation
Misaki and Hiroto are deciding what to eat for dinner.
- 美咲 Misaki今夜は焼き鳥が食べたいです。Konya wa yakitori ga tabetai desu.I want to eat grilled chicken tonight.
- 大翔 Hirotoいいですね。お店を知っていますか。Ii desu ne. Omise o shitte imasu ka.That sounds good. Do you know a restaurant?
- 美咲 Misaki駅の近くにいい店があります。Eki no chikaku ni ii mise ga arimasu.There is a good place near the station.
- 大翔 Hirotoじゃあ、そこに行きましょう。Jaa, soko ni ikimashou.Then, let's go there.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 焼き鳥, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
