Japanese Pork Basics– category –
Japanese Pork Basics from TokyoPorkPlus: what brand pork and kurobuta mean, how to say pork in Japanese, the cuts, the dishes to know before you go, and the regional pork dishes of all ten regions.
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Pork in Japanese: Butaniku (豚肉) — Buta, Ton or Pōku, and the Menu Words
Pork in Japanese is butaniku (豚肉); the pig is buta (豚), read ton in tonkatsu and pōku (ポーク) on Western menus. What does buta (豚) mean? Buta (豚, ぶた) means “pig” — the animal. The meat is butaniku (豚肉), litera... -
Okonomiyaki, Demi-Glace Katsudon and the Brewers’ Hot Pot: Chugoku [Journey #7]
Stop seven: the Chugoku region, western Honshu. The official database lists three pork dishes here — born on a griddle in an ironworks town, in a chef's imagination, and in a sake brewery. Three very different origins that, laid side by ... -
In Beef Country, the Pork Bun Is King: Kansai’s Pork Story [Journey #6]
Stop six: Kansai, where "meat" means beef. Order niku-udon (meat udon) or make nikujaga (meat-and-potato stew) here and you will get beef, always. As our overview showed, the official database lists just two pork dishes for the whole reg... -
Soy, Sauce or Miso? Chubu and Japan’s Cutlet Border [Journey #5]
Stop five on our journey: Chubu, central Japan. Beyond the two dishes in the official database (see the overview) — Niigata's tare katsudon and Kanazawa's metta-jiru — this region hides a heavyweight the database skips entirely: Nagoya's... -
Yokohama Chinatown’s Gifts and the Miso That Hid Wild Boar: South Kanto [Journey #4]
Stop four on our journey: South Kanto — Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba. As the overview showed, this region boasts five dishes in the official database, among the deepest benches in Japan. The keys: Yokohama's Chinatown and a port-city pig-fa... -
Sauce Katsudon and Gyoza Country: North Kanto’s Pork Specialties [Journey #3]
As our overview showed, North Kanto has three pork dishes in MAFF's official regional cuisine database — no surprise, given the region combines the Kanto plain's wheat culture with some of Japan's most serious pig-farming country. This t... -
No Pork Dishes in Tohoku? Four Postwar Classics Say Otherwise [Journey #2]
As we saw in the overview, the six prefectures of Tohoku — Japan's rugged northeast — have not a single pork dish in MAFF's official regional cuisine database. This is beef and horse country by tradition, home of legendary wagyu like Yon... -
Butadon and the Pork ‘Yakitori’: Hokkaido’s Regional Pork Dishes [Journey #1]
Welcome back to our journey through Japan's regional pork dishes. After the overview, our first stop is Hokkaido. The official MAFF database lists just two pork dishes from Japan's northernmost island — but Obihiro's butadon and Muroran ... -
What Is Japanese Brand Pork (Meigara-buta)? A Complete Beginner’s Guide
If you have ever browsed a Japanese supermarket or restaurant menu, you may have noticed pork sold under names like "◯◯ Pork" or "◯◯ Kurobuta." These are Japanese brand porks — known in Japanese as meigara-buta (銘柄豚) — premium pork ra... -
Which Japanese Brand Pork Makes the Best Tonkatsu? [2026 Guide]
The quality of the pork can make or break a tonkatsu. Standard supermarket pork makes a perfectly good cutlet — but taste a tonkatsu made with Japanese brand pork just once, and the difference will surprise you. Japan is home to more tha...