Happy New Year Quotes in Japanese

Do you know how to say New Year in Japanese? Do you know the different ways and phrases to wish happy new year in the language? In today's article, we're going to learn some New Year's phrases in Japanese so you can say them to your friends.

The New Year is celebrated on the first of January since 1873, when the country adopted the Gregorian calendar (previously it used the Chinese calendar). The turn of the year is considered an important fact.

Buddhists go to temples to hear the 108 tolls of the bell on New Year's Eve. Others go to hills or temples to see the first sunrise (初日の出 – hatsuhinode).

We also recommend reading: Oshougatsu – New Year in Japan

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Wishing Happy New Year in Japanese

If you just want to say “Happy New Year” know that in Japanese there are a few different ways to say it. The main and most formal one is:

shinnen akemashite omedetou gozaimasu
新年明けましておめでとうございます

If we translate it literally it means "Happy New Year".

The word chamaimasu present in the sentence is to make the sentence more polished and formal. We can just say akemashite omedetou [あけましておめでとう] and without the need to use kanji. It is also possible to abbreviate it by saying ake ome [あけおめ].

A curiosity is that we use (明け) which also means sunrise and dawn to refer to the new year. A more obscure way of using this word is to say akete omedetou [明けておめでとう].

Another common expression used is今年もよろしくお願いします“kotoshimo yoroshiku onegaishimasu”, which literally means “I hope to have your cooperation this year. Some young people shorten this sentence on casual occasions by sayingことよろ(koto yoro)!

In case you are still at the end of the year and want to wish a good new year, you can also say:

よいお年をお迎えください。
Happy New Year;
Short form : Yoi otoshi o!よいお年を！

Other ways to say happy in the new

Another way to say happy new year is using the expression新年(shinnen) which also means new year. You can say新年おめでとう (shin nen omedetou) and even新年明けましておめでとうございます(shin nen akemashite omedetou gozaimasu) this expression is very formal and is commonly used until the end of January.

Business cards usually say 賀正 (Gashō) which also means happy new year. Other words that are not usually used and that also mean happy new year are 頌春 (shoushun) and 慶春 (keishun) both have the kanji for spring, and even searching I couldn't discover the origin or use of these words, it is probably used in some ceremony or a long time ago.

Wishing you a Happy New Year in Japanese

"Nenmatsu" (年末) is a Japanese word meaning "end of the year". It is used to refer to the period from the last day of the year to the first day of the following year.

During this period, people in Japan often celebrate the New Year and spend time with family and friends. In the same way that Akemashite is used for the new year, it is customary to use the term Nenmatsu to wish a good end to the year.

"Nenmatsu yoroshiku" (年末よろしく) - "Good luck at the end of the year"
"Nenmatsu yoroshiku onegaishimasu" (年末よろしくお願いします) - "Please have a good end of the year"
"Nenmatsu mo yoroshiku" (年末もよろしく) - "May you have a good end of the year too"
"Nenmatsu ni mo yoroshiku" (年末にもよろしく) - "May you also have a good end of the year"

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