髪の毛
kaminoke[ka̠mʲino̞ke̞]
The Japanese phrase kaminoke means hair.
髪の毛 is used to refer to the physical strands of hair.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of 髪 (kami) meaning 'hair', の (no) a possessive particle and 毛 (ke) meaning 'hair/fur/fiber'.
Which one should you use?
While 髪の毛 refers to the physical strands of hair, 髪 is often used more broadly to refer to one's hair as a hairstyle or a general concept.
How do you pronounce it?
kaminoke
Did you know?
- While kaminoke refers to the strands, the word kami alone is also used in Japanese to mean 'paper', creating a triple homonym of 'hair', 'god' and 'paper'.
- There is a Japanese idiom kezukuroi which refers to the act of tidying up one's kaminoke. It is often used metaphorically to describe polishing a story or fixing minor details of a plan.
- The word ke in kaminoke is also used to describe goosebumps, which are called tori-hada but literally involve the 'hair' of a bird. This reflects how Japanese describes the sensation of the skin's hair standing up.
Examples in context
- 彼女は髪の毛がとても長いです。Kanojo wa kaminoke ga totemo nagai desu.She has very long hair.
- 赤ちゃんの髪の毛はとても柔らかいです。Akachan no kaminoke wa totemo yawarakai desu.The baby's hair is very soft.
Example conversation
Yui and Yota are at a hair salon.
- 結衣 Yuiこの美容師さんは、髪の毛を切るのが上手ですね。Kono biyoshi-san wa, kaminoke o kiru no ga jouzu desu ne.This hairstylist is good at cutting hair, isn't she?
- 陽太 Yota本当ですね。結衣さんの髪の毛も綺麗です。Hontou desu ne. Yui-san no kaminoke mo kirei desu.True. Your hair is beautiful too, Yui.
- 結衣 Yuiありがとうございます。陽太さんも髪型を変えますか？Arigatou gozaimasu. Yota-san mo kamigata o kaemasu ka?Thank you. Are you going to change your hairstyle too, Yota?
- 陽太 Yotaいえ、今のままでいいです。Iie, ima no mama de ii desu.No, I'm fine with how it is now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 髪の毛, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
