How to say “button” in Japanese | ボタン (botan)

The Japanese vocabulary「ボタン (botan)」means “button.” Please learn the pronunciation and the example sentences.

Japanese Vocabulary and the Meaning

If you do not know why the cell with “Hiragana” is blank, please read this page.

Key Wordボタン
Hiragana
Romaji Readingbotan
English Meaningbutton

The Correct Japanese Pronunciations

Please learn the pronunciation by watching the attached video. You can also learn example sentences.

Our main YouTube channel: Ichiyo’s Japanese YouTube Channel
Our sub-YouTube channel (Japanese vocabulary videos): Ichiyo’s Subchannel

The Example Japanese Sentences

It is important to have skills in both non-honorific and honorific languages in order to use Japanese correctly.

Pressing this button starts washing.

Plain Form:

このボタンをすと、洗濯せんたくはじまる。
Kono botan o osu to, sentaku ga hajimaru.

This is in non-honorific language, and it’s often used when talking to yourself.

When you press this button, the wash will start./Pressing this button starts washing.

Polite Form:

このボタンを押すと、洗濯が始まります。
Kono botan o osu to, sentaku ga hajimarimasu.

This is in honorific language, typically used when addressing others or in instruction manuals.


When you press this button, the shutter opens.

Plain Form:

このボタンをすと、シャッターがひらく。
Kono botan o osu to, shattā ga hiraku.

Polite Form:

このボタンを押すと、シャッターが開きます。
Kono botan o osu to, shattā ga hirakimasu.


When you press this button, the scan starts.

Plain Form:

このボタンをすと、スキャンが開始かいしする。
Kono botan o osu to, sukyan ga kaishi suru.

Polite Form:

このボタンを押すと、スキャンが開始します。
Kono botan o osu to, sukyan ga kaishi shimasu.


Press and hold the button to reboot.

Plain Form:

ボタンをながしするとさい起動きどうする。
Botan o nagaoshi suru to sakidō suru.

Polite Form:

ボタンを長押しすると再起動します。
Botan o nagaoshi suru to sakidō shimasu.


The button on the air conditioner remote isn’t working.

Plain Form:

エアコンのリモコンのボタンがかない。
Eakon no rimokon no botan ga kikanai.

There is a reason that we did not use “buttons” in the English meaning. We can teach you the details in our conversation lessons or mail support.
Conversation lesson and mail support: Ichiyo’s Japanese Online Lesson

Polite Form:

エアコンのリモコンのボタンが効きません。
Eakon no rimokon no botan ga kikimasen.


This machine has so many buttons, so I can’t remember their functions.

Plain Form:

この機械きかいはボタンがおおすぎて機能きのうおぼえられない。
Kono kikai wa botan ga ō sugite kinō o oboe rarenai.

Polite Form:

この機械はボタンが多すぎて機能を覚えられない。
Kono kikai wa botan ga ō sugite kinō o oboe rarenai.


I kept pressing the buttons on the remote and ended up breaking it.

Plain Form:

リモコンのボタンを連打れんだしたらこわれてしまった。
Rimokon no botan o renda shitara kowarete shimatta.

Polite Form:

リモコンのボタンを連打したら壊れてしまいました。
Rimokon no botan o renda shitara kowarete shimaimashita.

Japanese private online lesson

To Have Correct Japanese Language Skills

We teach Japanese to non-native Japanese learners. From our experience, 90% of Japanese learners use incorrect Japanese and often speak rudely, even though they have lived in Japan for many years.

Therefore, we created two services. One is our "Private Japanese Conversation Lesson" and the other is our "Daily Japanese Mail Support" service.

In the "Private Japanese Conversation Lesson," you can talk with a native Japanese teacher. Let us practice conversation together!

private Japanese conversation lesson

In the "Daily Japanese Mail Support" service, we will check your Japanese daily through email. Please show us the Japanese sentences that you wrote, your pronunciations, your handwritten Japanese characters, and so on. You can also ask us questions about Japanese.

Daily Japanese Mail Support

If you are a member of our private lesson or "Daily Japanese Mail Support," we can check and correct your Japanese every day.

The details are on our website: https://ichiwebsite.com/

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