Konnichiwa – Good Afternoon in Japanese – Origin and Meaning

Have you heard of the Japanese word Konnichiwa? It is generally translated as Good Afternoon and also Hi and Hello, but why is such a word, usually used in the afternoon, also mean hi? In this article, we will explore the secrets behind the word Konnichiwa.

In this article, we will also talk a little about Ohayougozaimasu, it is important for us to understand the meaning of this word to understand why Konnichiwa is translated as good afternoon.

Konnichiwa Means Talking about the Day

Although Konnichiwa [今日は] is generally used as a good afternoon or hello, the ideograms composed in the word and its origin have nothing to do with hi or afternoon.

Konnichiwa is actually the abbreviation of a complete greeting that asks how the person’s day is. Over time, this complete phrase ended up becoming just konnichiwa.

今日は如何ですか
Konnichi wa ikaga desu ka
How is your Day?

Although the phrase has ideograms, the expression konnichiwa is usually written entirely in hiragana. Note that the [は] is actually the particle [は] which is pronounced wa.

Basically, Konnichiwa [こんにちは] is the word for day along with the particle wa that highlights the topic of conversation and continues the subject. It’s as if you are saying: Talking about [は] the day [今日]:

We recommend watching our video below discussing the topic:

Why does Konnichiwa mean Good Afternoon?

It’s not that Konnichiwa means good afternoon, since the word refers to the whole day, but because ohayou is used in the morning, Konnichiwa has become a word to be used in the afternoon.

In fact, both ohayou and konnichiwa do not refer to any specific period of the day, only konbanwa [今晩は] refers to the evening, but it is an abbreviation like konnichiwa. See below:

今晩はご機嫌いかがですか？
Konbanwa gokigen ikaga desu ka
How are you this evening?

As for ohayou, it conveys the idea that the person arrived early or quickly; at no point does the word refer to the morning period, but its frequency of use ended up being at that time, carrying the meaning.

Konnichiwa is usually used from 10 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, while ohayou was originally used in the evening/early morning and originated in kabuki theaters.

Konnichiwa is Hello in Japanese

I hope this article has helped you understand why konnichiwa is translated as hello by most dictionaries. It does not refer to any period of the day, so you don’t need to be afraid to use it in any online chat.

Of course, you won’t stop using Ohayou and Konbanwa to use Konnichiwa in a disordered way, but if that happens, you don’t need to worry that no one will find it strange.

After all, regardless of whether it’s morning or night, the day is still not over. So, how is your day going?