コンビニでマンゴースムージーを買って飲む

What is “nomu yogurt” in Japan?

飲むヨーグルト (nomu yōguruto) is Japan’s name for drinkable yogurt, a category that English largely just calls “yogurt drink.” The Japanese version is a transparent compound: 飲む (nomu, “to drink”) plus the loanword ヨーグルト (yōguruto, “yogurt”). Big Japanese dairies like Meiji and Morinaga launched drinkable yogurt products in the 1970s, and the form stuck across every convenience-store fridge, where small plastic bottles of nomu yōguruto sit next to milk and probiotic drinks like Yakult. The verb-plus-noun naming pattern shows up across Japanese supermarket vocabulary: 飲む酢 (“drinking vinegar”), 食べるラー油 (“eating chili oil”).

In this clip, a vlogger at a convenience store points to a bottle: “これは飲むヨーグルトです” (“this is drinkable yogurt”).