How to say "salmon" in Japanese

• 鮭さけCommon
  nounThe native word for the salmon, the fish of the Salmonidae family. Use it for the fish itself, whether alive in rivers and seas or prepared as food.
  鮭さけは川かわをさかのぼって砂すなに産卵さんらんする。↗

  Salmon go up the river and lay their eggs in the sand.
• サーモンCommon
  nounThe loanword for salmon, borrowed from English and written in katakana. It refers to the same fish as 鮭 and is heard especially for salmon in Western-style dishes.

Both are common words for salmon: use 鮭, the native term, for the fish itself, in the wild or as food, and 「サーモン」, the English loanword, especially for salmon in Western-style dishes.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 鮭さけsalmon (Salmonidae spp.)
• サーモンsalmon
• 秋味あきあじsalmon (esp. salmon swimming upstream in the autumn)
• 曙色あけぼのいろsalmon (color, colour)
• 東雲色しののめいろsalmon (color, colour)