動物

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 動物園に行きました。▶ —
   I went to the zoo.
2. 好きな動物は犬です。▶ —
   My favorite animal is a dog.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Doubutsu (動物) = dou (move) + butsu (thing) — etymologically "moving thing." Classical Chinese vocabulary naturally imported into Japanese. English animal traces to Latin anima (soul / breath) — both capture the "living being" idea but through different metaphors (motion vs spirit). Zoo culture: Ueno Zoo (1882, Japan's first) anchors municipal civic life in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya. The petto (pet) market is exploding in aging Japan with many single-person households — inu (dog), neko (cat), kotori (small bird) split the field. Shinto overlay: animals as kami messengers — fox at Inari shrines, deer at Kashima. The -butsu suffix builds a taxonomy: shokubutsu (plant), koubutsu (mineral), seibutsu (organism).

Quick check

1. Etymology of doubutsu (動物)?

   • dou (move) + butsu (thing) — "moving thing"
   • Shizen (nature) origin
   • Gairaigo foreign loan
   • Native Kofun-era Japanese