Phrases for Traveling Japan: So Many Ways to Say Thank You!

Taking our first example, arigatou (ありがとう - thank you), this is a common and casual way to express thanks, and it can be made more formal ... HOME PhrasesforTravelingJapan:SoManyWaystoSayThankYou! PhrasesforTravelingJapan:SoManyWaystoSayThankYou! Datepublished:17September2019 Lastupdated:8January2021 WhenaskedtosayaJapanesewordmostpeoplewillprobablycomeoutwithkonnichiwa,ormoreimportantlyarigatou(ありがとう-thankyou).AwordtoexpressthankswhichappearsofteninJapaneseTV,movies,mangaandanime,andifyouhavealreadybeentoJapanyouhaveprobablyheardthisword. However,actuallythisisn’ttheonlywaytosaythankyou,thereareotherwayswhichdependonthecontextofthesituationandthespeaker.So,LIVEJAPANisgoingtointroducetoyousomeofthedifferentwaysyoucansaythankyou,alongwithabitofcontexttogiveyousomeguidance! Thankyou:Arigatou（ありがとう） Takingourfirstexample,arigatou(ありがとう-thankyou),thisisacommonandcasualwaytoexpressthanks,anditcanbemademoreformalbyaddingございます（gozaimasu）totheend. Itcanbemodifiedtoadddifferentemphasistoo,soifyouarewithfriends,oronabusinesstrip,youcanaddabitmoreemotiontoit!Forexample,addingどうも（doumo）,or本当に（hontonni）tothefrontofarigatougiveitastrongerfeelingofbeingverythankful,whilesaying誠に(makotoni)addsatouchofsinceritytothephrase.Thisistrueofthemoreformalversiontoo,soどうもありがとうございます（doumoarigatougozaimasu）isgoodinabusinesscontextforexpressingthatyouarereallygrateful. Howtothankbossesandcoworkers Colleagues Whentalkingwithworkcolleaguesyoucanuse恐縮です(kyoushukudesu)or恐れ入ります(osoreirimasu)toexpressgratitude,butasthisalsohasthemeaningofanapologytooitsusageisquitesubtle,itsbestthoughtintermsof‘thankyouforyourconsideration’or‘thankyouforyourhardwork/time’. ColleaguesorCustomers Whenthankingacolleagueorcustomerforsomethingtheyhavedoneyoucanuseお気遣い痛み入ります(okizukaiitamiirimasu)andお気遣い嬉しく存じます(okizukaiureshikuzonjimasu),whicharebesttranslatedasthankyouforyourkindnessorthoughtfulness. Superiors Ifyouarewritinganemailtoseniorworkcolleaguesorseeabusinesscommunicationfromacompanydirector,etc.,thenyoumightcomeacross心から感謝申し上げます(kokorokarakanshamoushiagemasu）whichhasamixedmeaningofboththanksandappreciationfromthebottomoftheheart.Itisn’tsomethingyouwouldusewhenspeakingasitisveryformal,butitisjustgoodtobeawareofitsmeaningifyouhappentogetemailsinJapanesefromyourboss. ShopAssistants Inrelationtocustomersyoumightsee,orsometimeshear感謝の念に尽きません(kanshanonennitsukimasen)or感謝の念に堪えません(kanshanonennitaemasen)whichgivesarealsenseofgratitudefordoingsomething,i.e.thatthecustomerhascometoyourstore,thatthecustomerhasboughtsomething,etc.Thisisawayofsayingthankyou. Workplace:EmailsandConversation Acommonphraseinworkemailsandletters,andalsospokenlanguageinoffices,isお世話になりました(osewaninarimashita)whichhasavarietyofmeanings,oneofwhichistothankcolleaguesfor‘lookingafteryou’–itcanbebasicallyusedasawayofsayingthankswhensomeonedoessomethingforyou. Thankingcustomersorothercompanies "Youreallyhelpedmeout!" Anotherwayofsayingthanksforthehelpisおかげさまで助かりました(okagesamadetasukarimashita),inparticular助かりましたgivesarealsensethatsomeonedidsomethingwhichreallyhelpedyououtofastickysituation,thatthey‘saved’you. Whengivinggifts SometimesJapanesepeoplewillgivegiftstoexpressthanks,andwillgiveacardwiththegiftwhichsaysお礼を申し上げます(orenomoushiagemasu).Thisisaformalwayofsayingthankswhichisusedalongsideagift. "I'mspeechless" Anotherbusinessexpressionis感謝の言葉もございません(kanshanokotobamogozaimasen）orお礼の申し上げようもございません(orenomoushiageyoumogozaimasen).Itbasicallymeansthatthespeaker,orwriter,hasnowayofsayinghowgratefultheyare. Respectfulthanks WithinthewayJapaneseworksintermsofsocialposition,forexamplepeoplecandemonstraterespectforolderpeoplebyusingdifferentlanguage,拝謝申し上げます(haishamoushiagemasu）isawayofloweringyourownsocialposition,i.e.tellingthepersonyouarespeakingtothattheyarehigheronthesocialladder,andexpressesbothasincereandhumblethanks. ThankingCustomers "Thanksforcoming" 誠にありがとうございます(makotoniarigatougozaimasu)waspreviouslymentionedasawaytogivesincerethanks,anditcanalsobeusedinstoreswherestaffmayuseittoexpressgratitudeforcomingintotheirstore. Anemotionalthankyoufromtheshop 心より感謝申し上げます(kokoroyorikanshamoushiagemasu)wasalsocoveredaboveandcanbesaidtocustomerstoexpressmoreemotionwhilesayingthanks. Ahumblethankyoufromtheshop 感謝いたしております（kanshaitashiteorimasu）isahumblewayofexpressinggratitudeandappreciationtoacustomer. ThankingFriendsandFamily FriendsandFamily ThemostcommonsituationyoumaybeinwhiletravellinginJapanismeetingfriendsandtheirfamily,inthesecasesyoudon’tneedtoworryaboutsocialstatus,formalityorcontext.Itisfinetousesimplewaysofsayingthankyousuchas本当にありがとうございます（hontouniarigatougozaimasu）,ありがとう（arigatou）andどうも（doumo）. CloseFriendsandFamily Youcanmakethingsevenmorecasualbyusingslanglikeサンキュー（sannkyuu）andサンクス（sannkusu）whichisbasicallyvariationsoftheEnglishterm‘thankyou’,andyoucanuseaslangversionofarigatouintheformofあざっす（azassu）! GeneralThankYouPhrasesforSightseeing Fortourists,themostcommonexpressionwillbe"arigatougozaimasu",andthisistrueregardlessofwhetheryouarebuyingthings,leavingastoreorarestaurantandmore.Basicallyanywherethatyouarereceivingaserviceyoucanusethisphrasetoexpressyourthanks.IfyougoonahomestayorstayataJapanesefriend’shousethenonaday-to-daybasisyoucansay“arigatou”,butattheendofyourstayyoucanalsosay"osewaninarimashita"toexpressthanksthattheylookedafteryouinJapan. WhenyouvisitJapannexttime,don'tforgettosayありがとうございますarigatougozaimasu)tothankJapanesepeoplefortheirkindhospitalityandamazingservice! 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