A Japanese cup is smaller than a US cup

In Japanese recipes, 1 cup (kappu) is 200 ml. A US cup is about 237 ml, so a Japanese cup is about ⅞ of a US cup.
A Japanese tablespoon (ōsaji, 15 ml) and teaspoon (kosaji, 5 ml) are practically the same as US tablespoons (14.8 ml) and teaspoons (4.9 ml).
Rice is measured in gō: 1 gō is 180 ml, about 150 g of uncooked white rice. The cup that comes with a Japanese rice cooker is 1 gō, not a US cup.

Weights for Japanese ingredients

To go between volume and weight, the converter uses the weight of a 200 ml cup of each ingredient, the standard figures used in Japanese cookbooks. Soy sauce, miso and mirin are heavier than water (a tablespoon of soy sauce is about 17–18 g), and flour and sugar change with how tightly you pack them, so treat the numbers as a guide.

Japanese white sugar (jōhakutō) is moister and finer than US granulated sugar, so a cup weighs less.
Japanese cake flour (hakurikiko) is lower in protein than US all-purpose flour.
Potato starch (katakuriko) is the usual thickener in Japanese cooking; cornstarch is the closest substitute.

Oven temperatures

Japanese recipes give oven temperatures in °C. To convert to °F, multiply by 9, divide by 5 and add 32: 180 °C is 356 °F (usually set to 350 °F), and 200 °C is 392 °F (usually 400 °F).

Japanese recipes on Bichiku Life

Onigiri builder: calories and salt for a rice ball, plus rice and nori for a batch
Nukazuke: Japanese rice bran pickles
Japanese preserved foods: umeboshi, umeshu, pickles and more
Dried vegetables: sun-drying vegetables, mushrooms and fruit

Last updated: 2026.10.31

Japanese teaspoon (kosaji, 5 ml)
Japanese tablespoon (ōsaji, 15 ml)
Japanese cup (200 ml)
Gō, rice-cooker cup (180 ml)

US teaspoon (tsp)
US tablespoon (tbsp)
US cup (about 237 ml)
Fluid ounce (fl oz)

Weight
Grams (g)
Ounce (oz, weight)
Pound (lb)