How do you say "I love you" in Japanese?

[Grandpa Frank]

My Japanese girlfriend often said "I rub you" Flank.

 

[Majestic]

18 years may not be a new world record for necroposting, but it's got to be in the top 3.

 

[bentenmusume]

Japanese are really "cautious" and shy. We could even say that feelings are real but it's almost as if it were forbidden to express them. And I guess they just consider love is a behaviour (and toughts / feelings) rather than something you can say.

This is a complete overstatement.

While it's definitely true that it's less common to openly express feelings in Japanese culture, the idea that all Japanese people are "shy", or that the culture forbids you to express feelings is not something that would be uttered by anyone who's actually lived here and interacted with a wide variety of Japanese people in Japanese. (Or anyone who's watched any of the countless Japanese reality/variety shows that deal with dating, love, and relationships.)

Sorry, I realize this is a necropost but I just have to push back against these "all Japanese people think/act/are the same" opinions.

(That said, it's really 懐かしい to see Scrivener's name again. My first post ever on this board was a reply to one of his, and his contributions were always thoughtful and enlightening. I wonder how he's doing these days.)

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I'll admit that when old posts pop up , I love looking at the old members who posted and the memories it brings back. This month makes 19 years I've been hanging around.

 

[bentenmusume]

Yeah, I feel the same way. It almost makes me want to necropost one of my old threads for "shits and giggles" (as my dad used to say).

This month makes 19 years I've been hanging around.

Eighteen years here (my first post was in 2004), though I've taken multiple extended hiatuses over that time.

It amazes (and scares) me to think that when I first posted here, I was a 26-year-old grad student, and now I'm...well, you can do the math.

 

[Majestic]

I look back and I think, "I've had 18 birthdays since then".
My son went from elementary school to junior high school, then to high school onto university, and then graduated and got a job during that time.
2004 was before the iphone, before Twitter and Instagram and bitcoin. It was the stone age of social network services.
The yen was at 114 to the USD... that's how long ago it was.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Old member party time , LOL.

 

[Haruto Uzumaki]

I wonder if necroposting is something frowned upon in Japan too I was never someone who participated in many forums so when I started using Reddit recently (and a few months after, they allowed disabling the archive feature), I ended up commenting on an old post to provide an extra personal story, just to add to the thread for the next people who saw the thread that might agree with my story, and someone near attacked me for replying to a 3 year old thread are people typically like this on the internet in Japan too cause I've learned it's super big in the US

 

[mdchachi]

I wonder if necroposting is something frowned upon in Japan too I was never someone who participated in many forums so when I started using Reddit recently (and a few months after, they allowed disabling the archive feature), I ended up commenting on an old post to provide an extra personal story, just to add to the thread for the next people who saw the thread that might agree with my story, and someone near attacked me for replying to a 3 year old thread are people typically like this on the internet in Japan too cause I've learned it's super big in the US

We actually had it banned here for a while too but then realized there was no real point to not allowing it. Each forum has their own rules and culture. If a site seriously doesn't want to allow it, they should lock the threads then it wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Haruto Uzumaki]

We actually had it banned here for a while too but then realized there was no real point to not allowing it. Each forum has their own rules and culture. If a site seriously doesn't want to allow it, they should lock the threads then it wouldn't be an issue.

I see well I'm glad it's open now cause there's always a chance to provide extra insight or even stem into a similar topic that just wouldn't work without being precedented by the previous question, and much more good that could come from this honestly

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I sometimes wish new members would notice in the member's info area when the member was last on , LOL. I see new members ask a question from a member who hasn't been on for 5 or 10 years and expect an answer. Another thing here is it sometimes takes a week or so for a member's question to get a good answer , but they never log in again and we never know if they got it. Then there's the member who our staff goes through a lot of time to give a good answer or help to and they can't take a minute to post a thank you. My favorite members are the ones who hang around a while and maybe even post a few times.

 

[Haruto Uzumaki]

I sometimes wish new members would notice in the member's info area when the member was last on , LOL. I see new members ask a question from a member who hasn't been on for 5 or 10 years and expect an answer. Another thing here is it sometimes takes a week or so for a member's question to get a good answer , but they never log in again and we never know if they got it. Then there's the member who our staff goes through a lot of time to give a good answer or help to and they can't take a minute to post a thank you. My favorite members are the ones who hang around a while and maybe even post a few times.

Yeah I do feel that for sure, which is why I've been checking this forum regularly whenever I have time, cause it seems like the people at the top really care about giving good information and responding to people, unlike other places that are actually meant for support on a specific thing, and people are trained to reply to them and help fix a problem, but either nobody replies for weeks and weeks or you get a generic response that anyone would've already thought of. I'm thinking of forums like the Adobe community but this forum is really good and sorry that people don't usually stay on, I think I'm gonna be a permanent member here though just as I will be in Japan one day

 

[Lothor]

Yeah I do feel that for sure, which is why I've been checking this forum regularly whenever I have time, cause it seems like the people at the top really care about giving good information and responding to people, unlike other places that are actually meant for support on a specific thing, and people are trained to reply to them and help fix a problem, but either nobody replies for weeks and weeks or you get a generic response that anyone would've already thought of. I'm thinking of forums like the Adobe community but this forum is really good and sorry that people don't usually stay on, I think I'm gonna be a permanent member here though just as I will be in Japan one day

Thanks! Nobody is trained, but we do our best to be welcoming and helpful - there's a lot of collective experience among the regulars - so I'm really happy that you appreciate it.

 

[Petaris]

View attachment 86913 Old member party time , LOL.

I wonder if that is what a Mars Man BBQ was like?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

We will all get together for one in our next life !

 

[日本語 Class]

What about daisuki 大好き?? Is it only for things and not people？

 

[mdchachi]

What about daisuki 大好き?? Is it only for things and not people？

You can use it for people. Here's an example within the first three seconds of the video (and also the title which is how I found it).

 

[nedkelly]

My favourite source of romantic expressions/love talk is the lyrics of enka 演歌 songs.

 

[日本語 Class]

Is daisuki more general and less personal, while aisuru aishiteru are for romantic affection？

 

[thomas]

Found on Twitter: 248,026 ways to say "I Love You" in Japanese.

 

[Rewolf71]

If I may pitch my two cents... Hello all.

In Japanese, love is as multifaceted as the language. There are different degrees to it and different ways of expressing it according to the situation.

"suki" is used both as like or love and the meaning has to be interpreted from the context. Therefore if one says:

"ramen ga suki"

It would be interpreted as meaning "I like ramen". But if one says:

"ramen ga dai suki", the use of the "dai" which means big compunds like into love, thus making the example above "I love ramen" in English.

When talking about people, suki can also be used to express filial love, special friendships, or childish love. So you could say "anata ga suki" to your mother, siblings, good friends, etc. When used towards boyfriends and girlfriends by adults, it has a childish and not too serious flavour to it.

Now "ai" is more laden with commitment and permanence. It is very rarely used in anything but the romantic sense. So, "anata wo aishiteiru" is usually used by adult lovers, husbands and wives, in declaring ones "serious" love to another, etc. However, when admitting feelings for someone, you would not use "ai" but rather something along "anata ga suki ni natteiru" (I'm beginning to love you).

"koi ni ochita" is more often used in a litterary sense, but when used in daily conversation, it is often used to talk about a third party falling in love as this is exactly what the expression means, "ochita" being the past tense of "ochiru", meaning to fall.

As for "koi wo suru", it usually means that you are flirting or active on the dating scene. For example, as a married man, if I said of myself that "koi wo shiteiru" I would be implying that I'm sleeping around or have one or several girlfriends. As a single person, it would mean that I'm dating, but not commited to anyone.

Does this clear things up some? I hope so. (I posted at the same time as Nangi made his post, so sorry if they overlap).

I think Suki "like" is more akin to, " My favorite" rather than just a general like. Example is..., "I like ice cream but, chocolate is my favorite!" would be... "Aisukurīmu mo sukidesuga, chokorēto ga ichiban sukidesu!" so, add the ichiban if you really like it.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Getting better , this thread is only 2 years old.