How to Say Thank You in Japanese
Say thank you in Japanese with arigatou gozaimasu, the casual arigatou and doumo, and arigatou gozaimashita as you leave, with the pronunciation, a bow, and the replies.
You will end up able to thank anyone in Japanese with one phrase, "arigatou gozaimasu" (ありがとうございます). You will also know the casual forms for friends, the form for a last thanks as you leave, how to pronounce them, when to add a bow, and what to say when someone thanks you.
One phrase is enough for a visit. Lesson 1 of the Japan Foundation's Irodori course tells learners that it is acceptable to say "arigatou gozaimasu" every time they thank someone. The other forms in steps 2 to 4 are for the moments when a shorter thanks or a final one fits better.
The Japanese words here are spelled the way they are written in kana, so a long "o" appears as "ou." FAQ 1 below explains the other spellings you will see. The spellings in brackets, such as (ah-ree-gah-toh), are approximations in English letters. Check them against the recording linked in step 1.
Learn arigatou gozaimasu for most situations
"Arigatou gozaimasu" (ありがとうございます, ah-ree-gah-toh go-zah-ee-mahss) is the standard polite way to say thank you in Japanese. Use it with shop and restaurant staff, hotel employees, strangers, coworkers, and anyone you do not know well. "Arigatou" is the thanks, and "gozaimasu" makes it polite. Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs classes "gozaimasu" with the polite endings "desu" and "masu," at a higher degree of politeness. Four points of pronunciation need attention. All four come from the Japanese pronunciation course that Tokyo University of Foreign Studies publishes online. Hold the "o" at the end of "arigatou." The "ou" is one long "o," not an "o" followed by a "u," so the word ends "toh" with the vowel held for 2 beats. Japan's romanization standard writes that long vowel either with a macron, as "ō," or the way the kana spells it, as "ou." Let the "u" at the end of "gozaimasu" fade. The course says the "su" of a "masu" ending is normally devoiced, so the word ends "mahss" and not "mah-soo." Tap the "r." Touch the tip of your tongue lightly to the ridge behind your upper front teeth and release it at once. Do not stress any syllable. Japanese marks a word with pitch, a rise or a fall of the voice, and gives every beat about the same length. The course warns that speakers of stress languages such as English hit one beat harder, which stretches it until it sounds like a long vowel. That is why the respellings here have no capital letters. Then play the recording. Lesson 1 of NHK World's Easy Japanese course has the phrase as its bonus phrase, with a play button beside it. Repeat it until yours matches. NHK spells it "arigatoo gozaimasu," which is the same phrase in another romanization.
Good to know: Count the beats. Each kana is 1 beat, so "a-ri-ga-to-u go-za-i-ma-su" has 10 beats of about equal length, and the long "o" takes 2 of them. Tap the 10 beats with a finger while you say the phrase slowly, then speed up without letting any beat stretch.
Use arigatou with people close to you
"Arigatou" (ありがとう, ah-ree-gah-toh) by itself is the casual version. The note in NHK's lesson 1 says you can use this short version when you are thanking someone close to you, like a friend or a family member. So say "arigatou" when a friend holds a door for you. Say the full "arigatou gozaimasu" when a stranger gives you directions, which is what the newcomer in the lesson's own dialogue says to the two people who show the way. If you do not know which one fits, use the full form. The choice tells the listener how you see the relationship. The Agency for Cultural Affairs' guidelines on honorific language say that speakers use it to show respect, to show regard for the other person's position, and to show how close they are to that person. The guidelines add that with some people and in some situations, leaving it out lets the exchange go more smoothly. They also say that piling it on does not make a speaker polite by itself, because attitude and content still count.
Use doumo for a small, quick favor
"Doumo" (どうも, doh-moh) is the shortest thanks, and the word itself does not mean "thank you." The National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics traces it to an adverb meaning roughly "however you look at it." It came to show that the speaker feels indebted to the listener, and by the turn of the 20th century the set phrases "doumo arigatou" and "doumo sumimasen" were in ordinary use. The institute notes that "doumo" was often said with the rest of the sentence left off, and that is the form you hear today as a thanks by itself. The dialogues in the Japan Foundation's lesson 1 show where each form goes. "A, doumo" is the reply when someone offers a piece of candy, and "doumo arigatou" is the reply to a present. Use "doumo" the same way, for a small, quick favor. Because it leaves the thanks itself unsaid, switch to "arigatou gozaimasu" whenever you want the thanks to be clearly polite. "Doumo" also goes in front of the polite form, which FAQ 3 below covers.
Switch to arigatou gozaimashita for the last thanks
"Arigatou gozaimashita" (ありがとうございました, ah-ree-gah-toh go-zah-ee-mah-shtah) is the same phrase with a past ending. Use it for the last thanks, when the thing you are grateful for is finished. Say it as you leave a shop or a restaurant, when a tour ends, or when you say goodbye to a host. While the help is still going on, such as when the cashier hands you your change, say "arigatou gozaimasu." The past ending does not make the thanks more polite, and it does not mean the gratitude is over. Mie Tsunoda, writing in the Journal of Japanese Language Education Methods in 1994, describes it as the speaker's signal that one scene is coming to an end. The Japan National Tourism Organization gives visitors the same form in place of a tip. Tipping is not customary in Japan, it says, so show your appreciation with this phrase and a smile. In "gozaimashita," the "i" before the "t" fades the way the final "u" does in step 1, so the ending sounds close to "mah-shtah."
Add a nod or a bow
A bow, called "ojigi," goes with thanks as well as with greetings. The Japan Foundation's lesson 1 describes it as a bow from the waist and gives two rules. The deeper the bow, the more respectful it is, and for a friend a light nod of the head is enough. For everyday thanks to a shopkeeper, a waiter, or a hotel clerk, nod your head as you say "arigatou gozaimasu." When someone has gone out of their way for you, or the setting is formal, bend forward from the waist. A visitor is not held to the finer rules. The Japan National Tourism Organization tells visitors that as guests they are more likely to be bowed to than expected to bow, and that a bow is a nice extra gesture to go with a thank you.
Reply when someone thanks you
When someone thanks you, say "iie" (いいえ, ee-eh). It is the word for "no," and the Japan Foundation's lesson 1 teaches it as the reply to "arigatou gozaimasu." Hold the "ee" for 2 beats, because the word is written with two "i" kana before the "e." Add a small nod. The longer reply is "dou itashimashite" (どういたしまして, doh ee-tah-shee-mah-shteh). The lexicographer Hiroaki Iima, an editor of the Sanseido Kokugo Jiten dictionary, writes that it is a proper reply and not a rude one, and that it literally asks why any thanks would be needed. He also reports that his students resist saying it to someone senior, because to them it sounds like talking down. He tells them to say "ie ie, tondemonai desu" (いえいえ、とんでもないです) instead, which means "no, no, not at all." Use "iie" as your everyday reply, and expect to hear all three.
If the phrase comes out with one hard beat in the middle, say it again at an even pace and tap the 10 beats from the tip in step 1. If the ending sounds like "mah-soo," let the last vowel drop to a whisper. If you cannot tell which form fits, say "arigatou gozaimasu," and say "arigatou gozaimashita" for the last thanks as you leave. If someone answers your thanks with "iie," they are not disagreeing with you. It is the reply from step 6. FAQ 1 below covers the spellings you will see, FAQ 2 what to say after a meal, FAQ 3 how to say "thank you very much," and FAQ 4 why you will hear "sumimasen" where you expect a thank you. For first phrases in two more languages, see our guides on how to say hi in Spanish and how to count to ten in French.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
All three are the same word, ありがとう, in different romanizations. The last kana, う, lengthens the "o" before it. Japan's romanization standard, linked in step 1, gives two spellings for a long vowel, which makes the word "arigatō" with a macron or "arigatou" as the kana spells it. This page uses the second. NHK's Easy Japanese lessons double the vowel and write "arigatoo." The Japan National Tourism Organization's etiquette pages leave the length unmarked and write "arigato." Whichever spelling you see, say the last "o" long. The same goes for "doumo" and "dou itashimashite."
Say "gochisousama deshita" (ごちそうさまでした, go-chee-soh-sah-mah deh-shtah) when you finish eating. The Japan National Tourism Organization's manners guide pairs it with "itadakimasu" (いただきます, ee-tah-dah-kee-mahss), which is said before the meal. It translates the first loosely as "thanks for the food" and the second as something like "I am glad to receive this meal." Do not leave a tip as a thank you. The same organization says tipping is not customary in Japan and will often be met with confusion. Say "arigatou gozaimashita" to the staff on your way out instead (step 4).
Put "doumo" in front, as in "doumo arigatou gozaimasu" (どうもありがとうございます). NHK's lesson already translates plain "arigatou gozaimasu" as "thank you very much," so the plain phrase carries that meaning too. The Agency for Cultural Affairs' guidelines, linked in step 2, use the long form in an example about a boss who stayed after hours to teach an employee a task. The thing to say afterward, they advise, is "doumo arigatou gozaimashita," with "taihen tasukarimashita" (it was a great help) added if you want more. They advise against "gokurousama deshita," a phrase for someone who has done a job for you, such as a delivery person, and not for a senior.
"Sumimasen" (すみません, soo-mee-mah-sen) is an apology, and it doubles as a thanks when the other person has gone to some trouble for you. The Japan Foundation's lesson 1, linked in the introduction, gives two cases, someone handing back a thing you dropped and someone giving you a seat on the train. In those cases, it explains, you feel you have caused the other person trouble, so "sumimasen" thanks and apologizes at the same time. It is not used as a thanks when no trouble was caused, such as after a compliment or congratulations. The National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, in the article linked in step 3, gives the example of a stranger who holds the elevator door for you, where both "arigatou gozaimasu" and "sumimasen" are replies people give. You do not have to use it. The same lesson says it is not rude to say "arigatou gozaimasu" in its place.
Words & Pronunciation
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How to Say Thank You in Japanese
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