Christmas, New Years, Birthdays, Congratulations – do you know how to say the Japanese phrases for these special occasions? If you are travelling to Japan or have Japanese friends and colleagues, knowing a few basic phrases for a special event will come in handy. Read on to get learn and be prepared with the essential phrases for special occasions.
Learning how to say “Merry Christmas” is easy as it is taken from the English directly. In Japanese it is “Merii Kurisu-masu!”. Christmas hasn’t been celebrated in Japan until recently, and even now it is more for the younger crowd who give presents between friends.
New Year is another important and celebrated event in Japan and everyone greets “Happy New Year” to each other by saying “Ake-ma-shite Ome-detou Go-zai-masu”, which exactly means “Congratulations for the New Year”. You may also hear “Yoi otoshi o” which means “Have a great New Year”. Another phrase used at new year is “Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu” which is hard to translate into English, but roughly means “Please look after me again this year”.
There are many events where you would like to say “Congratulations”. This is a simple one word in Japanese “Omedetou” for more formally “Omedetou Gozaimasu”. If it is a birthday then add one word to make “Tanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu” which means “Congratulations for your birthday”. Another variation is “Honjitsu wa omedeto gozaimasu” which can be used for any special event such as a wedding or other celebration and means “Congratulations for this day”.
If you are giving a gift, it is usual practice to downplay it and say “Tsumaranai mono desu ga” which means “Its not much but” or if you are giving food “Okuchi ni aimasu ka do ka” which means “I’m not sure if you will like it or not but”.
You can wish luck to your Japanese friend by saying “Good Luck” which can be translated into the Japanese language as “Gan-batte Ne”. Wish “Good Luck for the future” by saying “Genki-de-ne”. This is used when you won’t see the other person for some time.
A few phrases can go a long way, especially when it is a special occasion. You now have a number of useful phrases you can learn that will help you be prepared for any event. Keep a list of them close by and commit them to memory if you can, you will certainly find a use for them before long.
Learn more Japanese phrases and hear native speaker pronunciation. Visit http://www.learn-hiragana-katakana.com
