How do you say "It's not really my thing" in Japanese?

Name: Handed Natto in Japan? 'I Don't Like It' Is the Wrong Answer.
Uploaded: 2026-07-21T10:03:16Z
Duration: 61 s
Description: Learn to say ちょっと苦手です (chotto nigate desu) — It's not really my thing. A 30-second Japanese lesson for travelers from Kōfuku.

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Handed Natto in Japan? 'I Don't Like It' Is the Wrong Answer.

To say It's not really my thing in Japanese, say ちょっと苦手です (chotto nigate desu).

There's a way to turn down food in Japan that doesn't insult the person who made it.

ちょっと苦手です chotto nigate desu It's not really my thing

Beginner politeness-nuance #learnjapanese #japantravel #japanesefood #japaneseculture #japanesephrases

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Why this phrase

A Kofuku and Hana role-play at a homestay breakfast table. Hana plays the host offering natto; Kofuku plays the guest who does not want it. He declines with 「ちょっと苦手です」 and she laughs and passes him the rice instead. ONE beat, and only one, contrasts it with 「嫌いです」, I don't like it, which judges the food and lands as blunt and hurtful; 「苦手」 puts the limit on you rather than on the dish. Keep natto as the only food in the scene, no second or third example. This is the soft no, the missing middle between a flat refusal and an allergy.