To your close friend, you can also just say “ Tanjoubi omedetou” (誕生日おめでとう). The O (お) added before the word “Tanjoubi” is an honorific prefix that can be added to nouns and will make you sound more polite and respectful. Omedetou can be used in all kinds of situations to congratulate someone or celebrate a special moment, day, or achievement in someone’s life. Tanjoubi (誕生日) is the Japanese word for “ birthday” and Omedetou (おめでとう) translates as “ Congratulations“, “ Best wishes“, or “ All the best“. This is the most basic and common phrase. (name)-san e, otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasuĭear …, Happy Birthday! 1.(name)-san, otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu.And you should end the card with your name plus より (yori) which translates as “ From…” or “ Sincerely…” or “ Best wishes…“. On a birthday card, you can add へ (e) after the person’s name and suffix to say “ To.” or “ Dear…“. San (さん) is politer, while chan (ちゃん) is for close female friends, and kun (くん) is for close male friends. Which suffix you should choose depends on the gender of the person and how close you are. If you want to address the person by name you can say “ (name)-san otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu” or “ (name)-chan/kun tanjoubi omedetou“. For your senior at school or your boss/coworker at work, o the other hand, you should use the formal and politer “ Otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu“. In case you are unsure which one you should choose, I recommend you to use the standard “ Otanjoubi omedetou” or “ Tanjoubi omedetou” with your friend. I also reached out to my Japanese friends and asked them about their personal favorites and these are the 5 most popular ways to congratulate someone on their birthday:

In order to find the most common and popular Japanese phrases to wish someone a “ Happy Birthday“, I have looked up hundreds of birthday wishes and birthday cards written in Japanese. So below I have more phrases including 10 beautiful birthday wishes that you can add to make your birthday greetings more meaningful and personal.

However, when you are celebrating the birthday of your significant other or your best friend I’m sure you want to be able to say “Happy birthday” in a more special. With these 3 phrases, you are already good to go. For friends, you can use the more casual “Tanjoubi omedetou” (誕生日おめでとう) or “Happii Baasudee” (ハッピーバースデー) which is popular among younger people. The formal phrase to wish somebody “Happy Birthday” in Japanese is “O-tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu”. So let’s learn how you wish someone a happy birthday in Japanese. Whether you want to wish a happy birthday to a close Japanese friend or write a formal birthday card to your Japanese boss, I have covered all the important birthday wishes for you in this post. There are plenty of reasons why you would want to know how to say “Happy Birthday” in Japanese.

Japanese happy birthday song shiawase