Whilst both of the above look more like apologies, they are basically interpreted as \u201cI\u2019m sorry to trouble you and I thank you for that.<\/strong>\u201d Note that these apologetic phrases will not make much sense by themselves, so you will often hear them combined into something like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sumimasen, domo arigato gozaimashita<\/strong>.Osore-irimasu ga, makoto ni* arigato gozaimasu<\/strong>. (*Makoto ni = sincerely)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to the less common ways of saying thank you in Japanese, these are typically reserved for specific contexts, such as working in customer service or handling serious situations. The key to expressing gratitude is sincerity, not necessarily using elaborate or formal phrases. <\/strong>Even a simple arigato can be meaningful when spoken earnestly. Pairing your words with a polite bow adds depth to your appreciation, often saying more than words alone. Whether you’re learning Japanese or planning to visit, focusing on genuine expression will help you connect better and navigate Japanese culture with respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cover photo by Clay Banks<\/a><\/em><\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saying thank you in Japanese can be more than a simple “arigatou”. You can either add more words to it or a sorry if you are really thankful. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":107584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,2050],"tags":[1385,2231,1331,1362],"class_list":{"0":"post-9916","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-things-to-know","9":"tag-japanese","10":"tag-living-in-japan","11":"tag-manners","12":"tag-tradition"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Say Thank You in Japanese : Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Saying thank you in Japanese is more than arigato. Learn the proper way to say thank you in Japanese: both formal & information situations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Say Thank You in Japanese : Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Saying thank you in Japanese is more than arigato. Learn the proper way to say thank you in Japanese: both formal & information situations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VOYAPON\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-06T23:37:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-23T09:22:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stefania Da Pont\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stefania Da Pont\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stefania Da Pont\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/person\/01513bbcd6e4f0abaa1840908da26fbe\"},\"headline\":\"How to Say Thank You in Japanese – Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-06T23:37:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-23T09:22:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/\"},\"wordCount\":765,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Japanese Language\",\"Living in Japan\",\"Manners\",\"Traditional Arts\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\",\"Things to Know\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2020\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/\",\"name\":\"How to Say Thank You in Japanese : Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-06T23:37:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-23T09:22:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Saying thank you in Japanese is more than arigato. Learn the proper way to say thank you in Japanese: both formal & information situations.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"A japanese shop in Tokyo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Say Thank You in Japanese – Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/\",\"name\":\"VOYAPON\",\"description\":\"Japan Travel Visitors Guide\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Voyapon\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10162038\/logo_voyapon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10162038\/logo_voyapon.jpg\",\"width\":1417,\"height\":1417,\"caption\":\"Voyapon\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/person\/01513bbcd6e4f0abaa1840908da26fbe\",\"name\":\"Stefania Da Pont\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/02142531\/Stefania-Da-Pont-sq.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/02142531\/Stefania-Da-Pont-sq.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Stefania Da Pont\"},\"description\":\"Translator and Japanese language tutor. I live in northern Italy but I feel at home in Japan, where I travel as often as I can. I drink a lot of green tea, read tons of books and collect Japanese pottery and kokeshi dolls. Karee raisu is my comfort food.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/author\/stefania\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Say Thank You in Japanese : Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d","description":"Saying thank you in Japanese is more than arigato. Learn the proper way to say thank you in Japanese: both formal & information situations.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Say Thank You in Japanese : Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d","og_description":"Saying thank you in Japanese is more than arigato. Learn the proper way to say thank you in Japanese: both formal & information situations.","og_url":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/","og_site_name":"VOYAPON","article_published_time":"2020-04-06T23:37:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-23T09:22:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Stefania Da Pont","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stefania Da Pont","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/"},"author":{"name":"Stefania Da Pont","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/person\/01513bbcd6e4f0abaa1840908da26fbe"},"headline":"How to Say Thank You in Japanese – Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d","datePublished":"2020-04-06T23:37:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-23T09:22:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/"},"wordCount":765,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg","keywords":["Japanese Language","Living in Japan","Manners","Traditional Arts"],"articleSection":["Culture","Things to Know"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2020","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/","url":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/","name":"How to Say Thank You in Japanese : Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-06T23:37:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-23T09:22:14+00:00","description":"Saying thank you in Japanese is more than arigato. Learn the proper way to say thank you in Japanese: both formal & information situations.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20175536\/japanese-shop.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"A japanese shop in Tokyo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/thank-japanese-arigatou\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Say Thank You in Japanese – Not Just \u201cArigato\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/","name":"VOYAPON","description":"Japan Travel Visitors Guide","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#organization","name":"Voyapon","url":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10162038\/logo_voyapon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10162038\/logo_voyapon.jpg","width":1417,"height":1417,"caption":"Voyapon"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/person\/01513bbcd6e4f0abaa1840908da26fbe","name":"Stefania Da Pont","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/02142531\/Stefania-Da-Pont-sq.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/02142531\/Stefania-Da-Pont-sq.jpg","caption":"Stefania Da Pont"},"description":"Translator and Japanese language tutor. I live in northern Italy but I feel at home in Japan, where I travel as often as I can. I drink a lot of green tea, read tons of books and collect Japanese pottery and kokeshi dolls. Karee raisu is my comfort food.","url":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/author\/stefania\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"arigatou](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/18144811\/message_arigatou.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/18144724\/nigaoe_zabieru_xavier.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/18144734\/nigaoe_sugawarano_michizane.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n