食料品
しょくりょうひん
shokuryouhin
= groceries; foodstuffs; food items
Shokuryouhin (食料品) means groceries or foodstuffs — the collective term for food items purchased at a store. It appears constantly in household budgeting, supermarket signage, and the ongoing conversation about food price inflation in Japan.
Shokuryouhin (食料品) refers to food products and groceries as a category. It is broader than any individual food item and is used in contexts such as: shokuryouhin wo kau (食料品を買う, to buy groceries), shokuryouhin uriba (食料品売り場, grocery section/food department — found in department stores and supermarkets), and shokuryouhin no nedan (食料品の値段, the price of groceries). The related term shokuhin (食品, food products/foodstuffs) is slightly more formal and used in labeling, nutritional context, and food industry discussions. Shokuryouhin leans more toward the shopping/retail context, while shokuhin is more common in product and scientific contexts. Both contrast with nichiyouhin (日用品, daily necessities — household goods, toiletries) and seikatsu youphin (生活用品, lifestyle goods).
The distinction between shokuryouhin (食料品, groceries in a shopping context) and shokuhin (食品, food products in a labeling/industry context) is subtle but important. When navigating a supermarket or discussing what you need to buy, shokuryouhin is the natural word: shokuryouhin wo kaimono suru (食料品を買い物する, ‘to go grocery shopping’). On product labels, in food safety discussions, or industry analysis, you’ll see shokuhin: yuuki shokuhin (有機食品, organic food products), shokuhin anzen (食品安全, food safety).
食料品 uses 食 (shoku/ku — to eat; food), 料 (ryou — fee, materials, ingredients), and 品 (hin/shina — goods, article, quality). Together: ‘goods that are food ingredients/materials’ — a compound that describes the category of edible merchandise. The character 料 suggests measured, organized materials, while 品 marks them as commercial goods. This combination appears in many food-commerce compound words.
Everyday use
週末にまとめて食料品を買っておくと平日が楽になる。
Shuumatsu ni matomete shokuryouhin wo katte oku to heijitsu ga raku ni naru.
Buying groceries in bulk over the weekend makes weekdays so much easier.
Casual / Social Media
食料品の値上げが続いて家計が本当に苦しい。特に卵と野菜。
Shokuryouhin no neage ga tsuzuite kakei ga hontou ni kurushii. Toku ni tamago to yasai.
Grocery prices keep rising and it’s really tough on the household budget. Eggs and vegetables especially.
Formal / Cultural context
食料品の物価上昇は、低所得世帯に不均衡な影響を与えている。
Shokuryouhin no bukka joushou wa, teishootoku setai ni fukinkou na eikyou wo ataete iru.
Rising grocery prices are having a disproportionate impact on lower-income households.
Japan’s shokuryouhin shopping culture is built around freshness, seasonality, and precision. Supermarkets (suupaa) and food halls in department store basements (depachika, デパ地下) take food quality seriously — daily arrival of fresh produce, same-day delivery of fish, and meticulous presentation of each item. Expiration date consciousness is extreme: Japanese consumers frequently check shoumi kigen (賞味期限, best-before date) with great care, and products even one day past best-before are often removed from shelves immediately.
Since 2022, shokuryouhin prices in Japan have been a major ongoing news topic. Japan experienced significant food price inflation driven by global supply chain disruption, rising energy costs, and the weakening yen — which made food imports substantially more expensive. Items like eggs (tamago), wheat products, and processed foods saw notable price increases. This context makes shokuryouhin no neage (食料品の値上げ, grocery price increases) one of the most common news phrases in contemporary Japanese media, and the topic is a standard conversation piece in Japanese households and social media.
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