Learn about wishing someone a happy new year
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natsuko and Yoshi: 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| Natsuko: ナツコです。(Natsuko desu.) |
| Yoshi: ヨシです。(Yoshi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Happy New Year! Natsuko-san and Yoshi-san, I think we’re not even going to try to pretend that we’re in the studio today. Let everybody know that, yeah, we’re not here. But we did want to wish you a Happy New Year! So that’s why we pre-recorded this show to wish everybody a Happy New Year. And to teach you, to remind you, because Natsuko-san, actually last year, didn’t we do a show about this? |
| Natsuko: Yes, I remember. |
| Peter: I remember, too. And we had the Alpha male. |
| Natsuko: Yes, Kazunori. |
| Peter: Kazunori. So today, a short lesson just to refresh your memory. In that way, when you run into your Japanese friends or the next time you speak to your Japanese friends, you can wish them a Happy New Year. For now, let’s give you a short conversation between two employees, same two employees that said goodbye to each other at the end of last year. This year, they’re meeting for the first time. So, how would they greet each other? Let’s find out. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 岩井 (Iwai) : 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| 山本 (Yamamoto) : 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| 岩井 (Iwai) : 今年もどうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kotoshi mo dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| 山本 (Yamamoto) : こちらこそ。どうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso. Dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: One more time, please. Slowly please. |
| Natsuko: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| 岩井 (Iwai) : 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| 山本 (Yamamoto) : 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| 岩井 (Iwai) : 今年もどうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kotoshi mo dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| 山本 (Yamamoto) : こちらこそ。どうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso. Dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: This time, Chigusa-san and Yoshi-san will give you the Japanese, and I’ll give you the English. Here we go. |
| 岩井 (Iwai) : 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| Iwai:Happy New Year. |
| 山本 (Yamamoto) : 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| Yamamoto:Happy New Year. |
| 岩井 (Iwai) : 今年もどうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kotoshi mo dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Iwai:Please be kind to me this year, too. |
| 山本 (Yamamoto) : こちらこそ。どうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso. Dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Yamamoto:Same here. Please be kind to me this year, too. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: All right, Natsuko-san, how many times will you say this expression, 明けましておめでとうございます (akemashite omedetō gozaimasu), in the next two weeks? |
| Natsuko: Several dozens. |
| Peter: Yes. Yoshi-san, how about you? |
| Yoshi: Maybe like ten? |
| Peter: Yes, because you’re just going to record it and then you should play when you meet somebody. Yes, it’s quite a long expression. That’s why later in the episode, we’ll give you a shorter version you could kind of use with your friends, not business partners. Let’s take a closer look at the conversation. Natsuko-san, can you give us that greeting one more time? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natsuko: 明けましておめでとうございます。(akemashite omedetō gozaimasu) |
| Peter: Can you break that down? |
| Natsuko: あけましておめでとうございます (akemashite omedetō gozaimasu) |
| Peter: And one time fast. |
| Natsuko: 明けましておめでとうございます (akemashite omedetō gozaimasu) |
| Peter: Now, we translated this as, “Happy New Year,” but let’s take a closer look. So, let’s start with the Kanji character. Natsuko-san, what does this character mean? |
| Natsuko: Well, the Kanji used here means “bright” and 明ける (akeru), it’s kind of a special word, but it means “becoming bright,” which means the sun rises and a new day starts. |
| Peter: Is there an expression for that? |
| Natsuko: 夜が明ける (yo ga akeru) |
| Peter: Which means? |
| Natsuko: “Sunrise.” |
| Peter: And in this case, it’s the “sunrise of a new year.” |
| Natsuko: Yes. It’s not only the start of the day, but it's the start of a new year. |
| Peter: In this case. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And that’s how it’s become accepted into this greeting. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And the full greeting is, one more time, Natsuko-san. |
| Natsuko: 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemasehite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| Peter: So, kind of like, “Congratulations for starting a new year.” |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: All right. Very interesting story behind this phrase. Okay. Then we had |
| Yoshi: 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| Peter: Same expression used. So, if you say this to someone, they’ll say it back to you. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Or, if someone says it to you, then you say it back to them. Like a parrot. Just repeat what they say. This is followed by |
| Natsuko: 今年もどうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kotoshi mo dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: “Please be kind to me this year too.” Now, we had that expression when you first meet someone. Natsuko-san, we say |
| Natsuko: どうぞよろしくお願いします。(Dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: As the final part of a self introduction, “Please be kind to me.” Here we have an addition to that, and that comes before どうぞよろしくお願いします (dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu). That is |
| Natsuko: 今年も (kotoshi mo) |
| Peter: First word meaning |
| Natsuko: “This year.” |
| Peter: “This year.” 今年 (kotoshi) |
| Natsuko: 今年 (kotoshi) |
| Peter: Followed by |
| Natsuko: も (mo) |
| Peter: The particle meaning “also.” “This year also, please be kind to me.” So, “Please be kind to me this year also.” Now again, どうぞよろしくお願いします (dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu). This is an expression, and we’re doing our best to interpret, but it can mean different things at different times. Here, we’re giving you the general nuance. “Please be kind to me” or “This year, let’s continue to maintain a good relationship.” |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: “Make things better.” “Let’s have a great year together.” The response to this is |
| Yoshi: こちらこそどうぞよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: “Same here. Please be kind to me.” Now, way back in some of the beginner lessons, we gave you this expression, こちらこそ (kochira koso), which we translate as, “Same here.” Now, the literal Japanese is こちら (kochira), “this direction” and こそ (koso), which emphasizes what it’s attached to. And here, it’s attached to “this direction.” And when we refer to people, we use こちら (kochira). So, “same here” followed by… |
| Yoshi: どうぞよろしくお願いします。(Dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: This is a very typical exchange between |
| Natsuko: On any occasion. Friends, colleagues, business partners. |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Natsuko: Any situation. |
| Peter: But this exchange is a bit formal, right? |
| Natsuko: Yes, it’s very polite. |
| Peter: Now, if you met your family, what would you say to them? |
| Natsuko: Yes, you use the same expression for your family. |
| Peter: So, this is a one-stop shop? Everything is right here. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: This is the tool we need to wish everybody around you a Happy New Year. |
| Natsuko: Yes. There are other variations, but you can just stay on this one, and you’ll never get in trouble using this. |
| Peter: There it is. Now, you might be able to get away with dropping the ございます (gozaimasu). |
| Natsuko: Oh yes. |
| Peter: Kind of like a less formal situation. 明けましておめでとう。(Akemashite omedetō.) |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And then, no one can forget what Alpha male taught us last year. Do you remember that, Natsuko-san? |
| Natsuko: Yes, I remembered it just now. |
| Peter: I think Yoshi-san can give us those. Now, there’s a kind of shortened version. |
| Yoshi: あけおめ。(Ake ome.) |
| Peter: which is a really short version of |
| Yoshi: 明けましておめでとう(akemashite omedetō) |
| Peter: And then there’s also |
| Yoshi: ことよろ。(Koto yoro.) |
| Peter: which is short for |
| Yoshi: 今年もよろしくお願いします (kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu) |
| Natsuko: I think we see a lot of this on mobile messages. |
| Peter: E-mails and things like this. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Text message where it’s troublesome to |
| Natsuko: Yes, get the whole thing, 明けましておめでとう (akemashite omedetō). |
| Peter: But actually, they have that in the set phrases. Maybe people don’t know that? |
| Natsuko: Oh yes, they do. |
| Peter: But yes, it is quite common to see this. Get a text message あけおめ。ことよろ。(Ake ome. Koto yoro.) So, it’s just another one. Now, this was again last year introduced by the Alpha male. |
| Natsuko: I think if you want to be casual, you’d better use 明けましておめでとう (akemashite omedetō) and 今年もよろしく (kotoshi mo yoroshiku). |
| Peter: Yes, I think that’s a bit safer. |
| Natsuko: Yes, and don’t abbreviate it further. |
| Peter: But then again, I think if you’re saying it as a foreigner, it might be really funny. |
| Natsuko: Yes, funny. |
| Peter: Oh, again, not in the business meeting or with your business partners in Japan, but in a social situation. |
| Natsuko: Yes, just for fun. |
| Peter: I think, yes, you’d get a laugh out of a few people. |
| Natsuko: They’ll be surprised. |
| Peter: Yes, try it out. Let’s see what happens. Again, it’s your friendships that are at stake. |
| I’m glad you like that, Natsuko-san. |
Outro |
|---|
| Peter: All right. So, that is going to do it for today. Again, from everybody here at JapanesePod101.com |
| Yoshi and Natsuko: 明けましておめでとうございます。(Akemasehite omedetō gozaimasu.) |
| Peter: Happy New Year! Be back tomorrow. |
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