トイレットペーパー

Loanword from English 'toilet paper.' Written in katakana. The standard everyday word — more specific than 紙(かみ) ('paper') and used when the object is the roll of bathroom tissue.

Usage

Used in shopping, housekeeping, and product contexts. Japanese households and public restrooms expect toilet paper to be provided. It is flushed down the toilet rather than placed in a wastebasket, so Japanese toilet paper is designed to dissolve in water (a point of confusion for visitors from countries with different plumbing conventions).

Common collocations

• トイレットペーパーを買(か)う: to buy toilet paper
• トイレットペーパーがなくなる: to run out of toilet paper
• トイレットペーパーを交換(こうかん)する: to replace the toilet paper (roll)
• トイレットペーパーの芯(しん): the cardboard tube of a toilet paper roll
• 二重(にじゅう)のトイレットペーパー: two-ply toilet paper
• トイレットペーパーの買(か)い占(し)め: hoarding toilet paper

Similar words

• ティッシュペーパー: tissue paper (facial tissues) — boxed, for nose/face, not for toilet use
• ちり紙(がみ): tissue paper; pocket tissue — older term, used for both nose and toilet in earlier times
• トイレ: toilet; bathroom — the room or fixture
• 水洗(すいせん)トイレ: flush toilet

Cultural note

In Japanese supermarkets, toilet paper is sold in large multi-roll packs and is a common sale item. Panic buying of toilet paper has occurred at several points in Japanese history — most famously during the 1973 oil crisis and again during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.