The many ways to say “Thank You” in Japanese

The Japanese language has been the recipient of significant exposure for some years now. With the widespread expansion of the beloved Anime medium to the simplistic found commonly in the advertised Japanese culture and lifestyle, many non-natives have had their heads turn in admiration and fascination with the land of the rising sun.

With this admiration comes a strong desire to understand or even further, speak the language. The Japanese language (Nihongo) is a refined language that exudes charm and elegance, with a style that allows for the words, albeit bound to the rather strict character system, can still sound melodic and unique.

Some people may be aware of this, but since there are numerous major cities in the island nation, a number of these cities or regions have differences in speech. Apart from that, with the continuous modernisation of the nation, Nihongo is evolving much faster among the younger age groups. These differences create a wide tapestry in the language. And these differences can be easily spotted in the most basic aspect; how different people say “thank you” in Japanese.

Domo arigatou gozaimasu or simply Arigatou is perhaps the most commonly heard by non-natives. This is the most accurate way to express gratitude in Japanese. It can be translated to “thank you very much”. In some instances, instead of Arigatou, some speakers prefer to just say Domo, a much more casual way to thank someone, meaning “very”.

Another popular variant is the more unique Okini. Okini means “thank you” and is commonly used by those native to Osaka, a city in the Kansai region. Okini is pronounced with a drawn-out “O” sound and is especially popular among senior citizens.

On the other hand, the younger generation is more likely to express gratitude in a more colloquial manner. Some popular colloquialisms for thanking someone are Angato and Azassu. Angato is shortened from Arigatou whereas Azassu is a shorter form of Arigatou gozaimasu. While possessing no other meaning, these terms are understood generally to indicate gratitude in a similar way to “thank you”.

Apart from these, there is a myriad of other ways to say “thank you” in Japanese; that is just how diverse and wide the language is. These are but a drop in the ocean. Be that as it may, it could provide a worthwhile incentive to explore the entire island nation and find out how many other ways you can thank someone in a way that appeals to them most. One can hope. With that, domo arigatou gozaimasu for coming to my TED talk.

Hartwick is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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