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Desk and office words in Japanese

Last updated July 7, 2026 · 5 min read

40 desk and office words in Japanese

Phrases you can actually say

Words alone don't get used in conversation — phrases do. Here are eight short sentences built from the words above:

• ペンを貸してください。 (Pen o kashite kudasai.) — "Please lend me a pen."
• 消しゴムを使います。 (Keshigomu o tsukaimasu.) — "I'll use the eraser."
• パソコンの電源を入れます。 (Pasokon no dengen o iremasu.) — "I'll turn on the computer."
• 書類はここにあります。 (Shorui wa koko ni arimasu.) — "The documents are here."
• 充電器を忘れました。 (Jūdenki o wasuremashita.) — "I forgot my charger."
• ヘッドホンをつけます。 (Heddohon o tsukemasu.) — "I put on my headphones."
• 眼鏡をかけます。 (Megane o kakemasu.) — "I put on my glasses."
• 名刺を渡します。 (Meishi o watashimasu.) — "I'll hand over my business card."

Catch them instead of memorizing them

You don't need a Japanese office to learn office vocabulary — you need your own desk. The words in this table are exactly what's already sitting in front of you: your laptop, your charger, the pen you're holding right now.

CatchFrase works from that desk directly. Photograph your keyboard, your notebook, your stack of documents, and it names each one in Japanese with kana or katakana, romaji, and an example sentence, read aloud so you hear the pronunciation before you try to say it yourself. Say it back out loud and CatchFrase transcribes your words live, so you know whether it actually came out right. Each word then returns for review right before you'd naturally forget it.

At the free tier's 10 catches a day, clearing a 40-item desk setup takes about four days — a couple of minutes each morning before you start work, not a single overwhelming session. CatchFrase Plus removes the daily cap if you want to move through it faster.

Common questions

Is this list useful if I work from home, not an office?

Yes. These are the everyday nouns for a desk, a charger, a notebook, and a pair of headphones — objects that sit on a work desk whether that desk is in an office or your bedroom.

Do Japanese offices really use words like USBメモリ and シュレッダー?

Yes — many modern office terms are loanwords written in katakana, including USBメモリ (USB drive) and シュレッダー (shredder). Japanese absorbs English tech vocabulary directly, which makes these words easier to recognize once you know the katakana sounds.

What's the fastest way to actually remember these?

Say each word out loud while looking at the real object on your desk, then review it again a day or two later. That combination — real object plus spaced review — beats reading the list once.