How to Say Thank you" in Japanese and its many forms

ありがとう is the easiest way to say thank you in Japanese. It's quick and convenient and will be heard used often amongst everyone in Japan. Skiptocontent  ShareonFacebook Tweet(ShareonTwitter) ShareonLinkedin ShareonGoogle+ Pinit(ShareonPinterest) HowtoSay“Thankyou”inJapanese–DifferentWaystoExpressGratitude0Comments| LastupdatedonAugust25,2022 Inthislesson,we’llbeteachingyouhowtosay“thankyou”inJapanese. Ifyou’vehadanyexperiencewithJapaneseculturewhatsoever,oddsareyou’vecomeacrossafewwaystoexpressgratitude. Asidefromtheverbalformsofcommunication,there’salsobodylanguageandgesturingtoconsider.Needlesstosay,whenlearningtobuildabridgebetweenoneselfandanyculture,learninghowtosaythankyouisessential.FortheJapanese,thingsarenodifferent–buttheremaybemorecomplexityherethanyou’dthink. Inthisarticle,wehighlightallthewaystosaythankyouinJapaneseandbreakdownthenuanceofeachexpression. Contents1ThankyouinJapanese2PopularFormalExpressionstoThankSomeone2.1ありがとうございます　(ArigatouGozaimasu)2.2どうもありがとうございます(DoumoArigatouGozaimasu)2.3おせわになりました　(OsewaniNarimashita)2.4おそれいります　(OsoreIrimasu)2.5おおきに　(Ookini)3PopularInformalExpressionstoThankSomeone3.1ありがとう　(Arigatou)3.2どうも  (Doumo)4IsitrudetosayArigato?5OtherwaystosayThankYouinJapanese5.1おつかれさまでした　(Otsukaresamadeshita)5.2あざっす　(Azassu)5.3ごちそうさまでした (Gochisousamadeshita)5.4すみません　(Sumimasen)5.5こちらこそ　(Kochirakoso)5.6サンキュウ　(SanKyuu)6Howtorespondto“Thankyou”inJapanese? ThankyouinJapanese ThereareanumberofwayswecanexpressourgratitudeinJapanese.There’saformalandcasualwaytosayit. Japaneseareknowntobepolitepeople.Theynormallybehaveandspeakwithpolitenessandformalitywheninteractingwithothers. PopularFormalExpressionstoThankSomeone Let’sfirstseparatethedifferentformsofexpressinggratitudeintoformalandinformal.InJapan,thingslikeseniority,class,andpositionplayahugeroleinthewaypeoplecommunicate.Aconversationwithyourdarlinggrandmotherwouldsoundverydifferentthan,say,alettertoyouruniversityprofessor,colleagues,orotherprofessionals.Moreover,dependingontheweightofthesituationathand,adifferentthankyoumightbeused,evenifspeakingwithclosefriends.Sowithoutfurtheradieu,herearethewaystothanksomeone inJapanese: ありがとうございます　(ArigatouGozaimasu) Althoughthisisnottheabsolutemostformalwaytosaythankyou,it’sprobablythebestplacetostart.ThisformofthankyouisusedofteninJapan—storefrontclerks,politicians,youngersiblings,etc.It’sapolitewaytoexpressyourgratitude,andnoonewouldevertakeoffensetogratitudepresentedinthisway.There’snodirectequivalentinEnglish(aswithmanyJapaneseexpressions.)Rather,thefeelingofありがとうございますwouldbeconveyedthroughtoneandintonation.Letthisbethego-toformofthankyouifyou’rejustbeginningtolearnthelanguage. Note:Whengivingthanksforsomethingthat’shappenedinthepast,ありがとうございますbecomesありがとうございました.Thisruleremainsthesamenomatterwhatcomesbeforetheexpression.Forexample,amommaysay「ありがとうございました。

」tothebabysitterforhavinglookedafterherchildduringtheday. どうもありがとうございます(DoumoArigatouGozaimasu) HereisoneofthemostformalwaystoshowappreciationinJapanese.どうもtranslatesas“truly”or“very”andaccentuatesevenfurtherone’sgratitude.Althoughthereareotherwaystosay“very”inJapaneseotherthanどうも,thisexpressionisset,clear,andfrequented. おせわになりました　(OsewaniNarimashita) Thisexpressionisusedasathankyoutothosewhohavetakencareofyouinthepast.You’dsayittoarelativewhonursedyouduringaninjuryoraco-workerwholookedoutforyousincejoiningthecompany.Holidaytravelerscansaythistotheirhostfamilyonthedayoftheirdeparture.ThisJapaneseexpressionforthankyousignifiesthatyouappreciatesomeonewhogrewclosetoyouforaperiodoftime.Italsohascommonusagebetweencompaniesandtheirclientsthruverbalandwrittencommunication(customersarealways“takingcare”ofclients.) おそれいります　(OsoreIrimasu) Thisisabusinessexpressionthatthankssomeoneforafavorthatwasdoneintheirservice.Youmighthearthisfromanagencyworkerafteryouhandovertothemyourcredentials,forexample. おおきに　(Ookini) IfyoutraveltotheKansaiandevenKyushuuareasofJapan,you’relikelytohearthiswordusedforthankyouquiteoften.Itcomesfromthewordおおきい,whichliterallymeans“big.”Itcanalsobeusedinformally. PopularInformalExpressionstoThankSomeone ありがとう　(Arigatou) ありがとうistheeasiestwaytosaythankyouinJapanese.It’squickandconvenientandwillbeheardusedoftenamongsteveryoneinJapan.It’sprobablythemostusedformofthankyouinJapan. どうも  (Doumo) Usuallyusedsupercasuallybetweentightfriends,it’stheshortestwaytosaythankyouinJapanese.Onlysaythiswiththoseyoufeelveryclose—wordstranslatetofeelinginJapan.どうもcanevenbeusedwithacompletestrangerifyouwanttosignifyacloseconnectionwiththatperson. IsitrudetosayArigato? Sayingthankyouusingありがとう(arigatou)isn’tconsideredrude.ありがとう(arigatou)isacasualwayofexpressinggratitudewhichiscommonlyusedbytheJapanese.Thisismostlyusedamongfriendstowhomyoudon’thavetobepolite. However,sayingありがとう(arigatou)toyoursuperiors,teacher,customers,businesspartnersoranelderinthefamilywouldbeconsideredrude.Instead,youmaysayありがとうございます(ArigatouGozaimasu)tobepolite. OtherwaystosayThankYouinJapanese おつかれさまでした　(Otsukaresamadeshita) Thisformofthankyouisexpressedbetweenco-workersattheendofadayofwork.Itcanalsobeusedbetweenthosewho’vecompletedatasktakenupincooperation(likebuildingafireorsomething.)Thepointhereistothankothersfortheirhardwork. あざっす　(Azassu) ThisthankyouisusedasslanginJapanbetweencasualfriendsofanyage.It’sliterallytheresultofasupershortenedありがとうございます. ごちそうさまでした (Gochisousamadeshita) Here’saJapaneseexpressionforthankyou,whichisusedexclusivelyafteryoufinishyourmeal.It’softenunsaidatameal’sendbyJapanesenativesbutcanbeusedtogivekudostothechef. すみません　(Sumimasen) Ifyou’vestudiedJapanese,thenyouknowthisworddefinesas“excuseme.”Thoughit’susuallyusedtomeanjustthat,it’softenusedtosaythankyouandexcusemeatthesametime.Toputitevenbetter,it’susedtoexpressgratitudewhensomeonegoesoutoftheirwayforyou:Imaginesayingthankstothemanpatientlyholdingthedoorforyou.Thankyouinthiswayshowsgreathumility. こちらこそ　(Kochirakoso) ThisthankyouinJapaneseisexactlyliketheEnglish–“No…thankyou.”Itjustflipsthepraisebackontheotherpersonwhohasjustthankedyouforsomething. サンキュウ　(SanKyuu) IfaJapanesespeakerevertextsyouthenumber“39”attheendofanexchange,panicnot.サンキュウistheJapaneseloanoftheEnglishword“thankyou.”SincetheJapanese“3”ispronouncedさん(san)andits“9”pronouncedきゅう(kyuu),39isusedastext-shorthandtothanksomeone. Howtorespondto“Thankyou”inJapanese? TherearemanydifferentwaysofrespondingtothankyouinJapanese.Similartothefactorsyou’llconsiderwhensayingthankyou,respondingtothankyoudependsonwhoyouarereplyingtoorwhatrelationshipyouhavewiththatperson. Ifyouwanttoreplywithformalitybecauseyou’respeakingtosomeonewhohasahigherstatusthanyou,thenyoucanusethisphraseどう致しまして(douitashimasite).Youcanalsosayどうもありがとうございました(doumoarigatougozaimashita). Sothereyouhaveit.SomeofthebestthankyouwordsinJapaneseanyspeakershouldbeawareof.Asmuchaswascoveredhere,thislistisnotinclusiveofallthewaystosaythankyou(insane,right?)Atleastnowyou’vegotaninsightintotheintricaciesinthegratitudesystemofJapan. «PreviousPost DaysoftheWeekinJapanese–YourCompleteGuide NextPost» HowtoIntroduceYourselfinJapanese–AllYouNeedToKnow LeaveaReplyCancelReplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished. Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. Learnhowtohavea3-minuteconversationinJapaneseinonly90days. ComingSoon!Jointhewaitinglisttogetnotified. GetNotified! RecentPosts I’mHungryinJapanese–Waystoexpressthatyouwanttoeat Japanesegreetings–Waysofacknowledgingsomeone MonthsinJapanese–Essentialcalendarwords Howtosay“IKnow”inJapanese–Casual&FormalWays JapanesePronouns–Alistofmostcommonlyusedforms