Translation guide
A gourd is a hard-shelled fruit often used as a container or decoration. In Japanese, the most common word is ひょうたん, but other terms exist for specific types or contexts.
Referring to the typical gourd with a hard shell, often dried and used as a container or decoration.
The most common and general word for gourd, especially the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria). It can refer to the plant, the fruit, or the dried container.
ひょうたんを水筒として使う。
Use a gourd as a water bottle.
庭にひょうたんがなっている。
Gourds are growing in the garden.
A literary or traditional term for gourd, often used in poetry or classical contexts. Can also refer to a gourd-shaped sake bottle.
瓢の中の酒を飲む。
Drink sake from a gourd.
Refers to the fruit of the bottle gourd, especially when used as a container or mask. Often seen in traditional crafts.
ふくべ細工の面。
A mask made from a gourd.
Referring to small, decorative gourds often used in autumn displays.
Literally 'toy pumpkin', this is the common term for small ornamental gourds, often colorful and warty.
秋になるとおもちゃかぼちゃを飾る。
In autumn, we decorate with ornamental gourds.
Means 'ornamental gourd', a more descriptive term.
観賞用ひょうたんを育てている。
I'm growing ornamental gourds.
Referring to the gourd whose fibrous interior is used as a bath sponge or scrubber.
The loofah or sponge gourd. Commonly used for its fibrous skeleton as a body scrubber.
へちまで体を洗う。
Wash your body with a loofah.
へちまを育ててタワシを作る。
Grow loofahs and make scrubbers.
Kanji form of へちま, rarely used but seen in literature.
糸瓜の花が咲いた。
The loofah flowers bloomed.
Referring to the edible gourd with a bumpy surface and bitter taste, used in Asian cuisine.
The Okinawan name for bitter melon, now standard throughout Japan. Commonly used in stir-fries and salads.
ゴーヤチャンプルーが好きです。
I like bitter melon stir-fry.
Literally 'bitter melon', the standard Japanese name. Less common in everyday speech than ゴーヤ.
Referring to the large, mild-flavored gourd used in soups and stews.
Wax gourd or winter melon. Often simmered in dashi or used in soups.
とうがんの煮物を作った。
I made simmered winter melon.
Referring to the very long, slender gourd used as a vegetable.
Snake gourd, a long curved gourd. Not very common in Japan.
へびうりは熱帯で育つ。
Snake gourds grow in the tropics.
The English word 'gourd' can sometimes refer to pumpkins and squash, but in Japanese, かぼちゃ (pumpkin) is distinct from ひょうたん. Use かぼちゃ for edible pumpkins and squash, and ひょうたん for hard-shelled, inedible gourds.
ひょうたん are often associated with good luck and are used as charms. You may see them at temples or as decorations.
I don't like the bitterness of bitter melon.