Japanese wedding vows

Have you ever wondered what vows at a Japanese wedding ceremony? What are the differences between Western and Japanese votes? This article will share the translation and study all the details of a Japanese wedding vow.

There are several ways to make wedding vows in Japanese; this article will look at wedding vows in the Western-style. In traditional Japanese marriage, the Japanese read their wishes and thanks, mostly universal or personal.

In Western weddings, in addition to the option for the couple to read their vows, it is common for the person performing the ceremony to read them and then the groom or bride repeat them or confirm the vows by saying “I swear." [はい誓います].

Did you know that vows are linked to the wedding anniversary? Read our article on Wedding Anniversary Lists every year by clicking here.

The traditional Japanese wedding vow

The vows below are usually read by the director of the Western-style wedding ceremony, where the groom repeats each sentence. Then it is reread, where the bride repeats the phrases.

The only difference between the bride and groom's wedding vows is in the word josei [女性] which means woman, where in the bride's vows it changes to danced [男性] which means man.

• 私はこの女性と結婚し
• 夫婦となろうとしています。
• 私は健康な時も
• そうでない時も
• この人を愛し
• この人を敬い
• この人を慰め
• この人を助け
• 私の命の限り
• 固く節操を守ることを
• 誓います。

Watakushi wa kono josei [dansei] to kekkonshi
I am going to become a husband.
Watakushi wa kenkouna tokimo
I can't imagine.
Kono hito o aishi
Kono hito or uyamai
Kono hito or nagusame
I am sorry, but your request is not clear. "Kono hito o tasuke" seems to be in Japanese. If you could provide more context or details, I would be happy to assist you.
Watakushi no inochi no kagiri
I will protect the delicate balance.
I swear.

The second type of vow is read by the performer of the ceremony and confirmed by the bride and groom saying Hai Chikaimasu. One of the differences in this vow is in the words groom who is shinrou [新郎] and bride who is shinpu [新婦].

Japanese votes:

しんろう [しんぷ]、(お名前), あなたはこの女性と結婚し、夫婦[女性]となろうとしております。
あなたは、健康(けんこう)　なときも、そうでないときも、この人を愛し、この人を敬(うやま)い、この人を慰(なぐさ)め、この人を助(たす)け、その命(いのち)の限(かぎ)りかたく節操(せっそう)を守ることを誓(ちか)いますか？

Votes in Romanized Japanese:

Shinro, (groom's name), anata wa kono jyosei to kekkonshi fuufu to naru to shite orimasu.
Anata wa, kenko na tokimo, soudenai tokimo, kono hito o aishi, kono hito o uyamai, kono hito o nagusame, kono hito o tasukete, sono inochi no kagiri kataku sessou o mamoru koto o chikaimasu ka?

Just don't be crazy and to marry an anime character like the Akihiko.

Studying Japanese Wedding Vows

Now that you've seen the Japanese vows written in romaji, let's look at the votes written in Japanese with ideograms and study it sentence by sentence, similar to our articles on breaking up songs.

私はこの女性と結婚し
Watakushi wa kono josei [dansei] to kekkonshi
I married this woman

• I - I
• この - That one;
• 女性 - Woman;
• 結婚し - Marriage;

夫婦となろうとしています。
I am going to become a husband.
We are becoming a couple

• 夫婦 - Couple, husband and wife;
• なろう - To become;
• なろうとして - Try to become;

私は健康な時も
Watakushi wa kenkouna tokimo 
I, even in the time of health 

• 健康 - health, healthy
• 時 - time
• も - too

そうでない時も
I can't imagine. 
Even in time without her (health)

• そうでない - Not having

この人を愛し
Kono hito o aishi 
I will love this person

• この - This one
• Person
• 愛し - to love

この人を敬い
Kono hito or uyamai 
I will respect that person

• 敬い - respect, honor, esteem

この人を慰め
Kono hito or nagusame 
I will comfort that person 

• 慰め - comfort, console

この人を助け
I am sorry, but your request is not clear. "Kono hito o tasuke" seems to be in Japanese. If you could provide more context or details, I would be happy to assist you. 
I will help this person

• 助け – help, succor, support, reinforce, assist

私の命の限り
Watakushi no inochi no kagiri 
during my life

• 命 - life
• 限り- limit, as far as possible, to the maximum, unless, so far as only

固く節操を守ることを
I will protect my family. 
protect fidelity

• 固く - strong, firm
• 節操 – constancy; integrity; faithfulness; principle, honor
• 守る - protect

誓います。
I swear. 
promise/interest

• 誓います - I promise, I swear!

These were the Japanese vows of a Western wedding. Did you find it a little different from Portuguese? I hope you enjoyed the article, if you liked it share and leave your comments.