あんこ餅 (Ankomochi), お団子 (odango), たい焼き (taiyaki), and まんじゅう (manju).
In Japan, these delicious treats tempt people into their sweet and yummy traps all the time!
People who love sweets are called “甘党 (Amato)”.
In this article we are going to learn how to say sweet tooth in Japanese!
We will also learn about other Japanese words related to sweet tooth!
甘党(Amato)
甘党 (Amato) is a person who likes eating sweets more than drinking alcohol. So it is similar to the meaning of sweet tooth in English!
Recently, 甘党 is just used for people who like sweets, but the correct way to say 甘党 is when you compare it with drinking alcohol.
甘い means sweet and 党 means a group of people! 党 is often used for political parties.
If you really like sweets more than alcohol, you are definitely 甘党!
甘党の例文 Examples
Japanese
わたし甘党なんだよね！
English
I have a sweet tooth!
Japanese
彼は見かけによらず甘党だね。
English
He has a sweet tooth even though he doesn’t look like it.
You might wonder, "What does a person who has a sweet tooth look like?" Stereotypically speaking, Japanese people imagine people who like sweets to be girly and cute. So, if you see a someone who is not girly and cute and has a sweet tooth, you can say the above example sentence!
辛党(Karato)
There is a Japanese word which has the opposite meaning of 甘党.
It’s 辛党 (Karato)! 辛党 is a person who likes drinking alcohol more than eating sweet foods.
When you see the kanji 辛, you probably think it means spicy food.
But for 辛党, 辛 doesn’t mean spicy. It means having a strong alcohol taste.
Why you can’t say 辛党 for people who like spicy food?
A long time ago, Japanese people used to say “辛党” for people who liked eating salty and spicy food, too, but the meaning of 辛党 has changed to people who love drinking alcohol. This is because most of them like eating salty or spicy food with alcohol!
辛党の例文
Japanese
彼は辛党だから、プレゼントには甘いものよりお酒がおすすめだよ！
English
You should give him alcohol rather than sweets because he prefers to drink alcohol!
Japanese
わたしは辛党だから、そのケーキはいりません！
English
I like alcohol more than sugar, so I don't want that cake!
呑兵衛 (nonbeh)
There is another word for people who prefer to drink alcohol.
Japanese people call them 呑兵衛 (nonbeh).
Japanese use 呑兵衛 more than 辛党, but it sounds little bit negative. 呑兵衛 gives the image of getting wasted on alcohol. So you should be careful when you say it!
Which are you? 甘党 or 辛党？
Japan has many political parties, such as 自民党(the liberal democratic party) , 立憲民主党 (the constitutional democratic party of Japan), 共産党(the communist party), and more. 安倍元首相 (Former Prime Minister Abe) is from 自民党(the liberal democratic party)!
Even if you are not a politician, you are probably in “甘党” or “辛党”!