I had a birthday!

It was a pretty good day. I went to see the new Godzilla movie and it was amazing! The Japanese was really hard, but it was still enjoyable.

Even though I am getting older and birthdays haven’t been as wonderful as when I was a child, the best part is always hanging out with friends. I am lucky to have a great group of friends here in Kyoto, Japanese and foreigners alike, that made my day super special.

Looking through all my Facebook messages, I found a lot of great words of congratulations in Japanese. I figured I can share some of these with you guys, so you know how to congratulate your Japanese friends on their birthdays in the future.

First and foremost, the way to say happy birthday in Japanese is お誕生日おめでとう（おたんじょうびおめでとう）. It literally means "birthday + congratulations." You can add ございます to the end to make it a bit more formal, or you can take away the first お to make it a bit more casual. But either way, this is the standard phrase.

If you have some cheeky friends, they also might write ハッピーバースデー, the phonetic form of the English “Happy Birthday.” Since there is no official Japanese birthday song, it is usually pronounced just like this when they sing the English Happy Birthday Song. It's probably one of the cutest things I have ever heard to be honest.

Here are some of the other phrases and expressions my friends sent to me for my birthday:

楽しい誕生日を過ごしてね。
たのしい　たんじょうび　を　すごして　ね。
Have a fun birthday.
Literally: “fun + birthday + を + spend (time) + ね”

素敵な1年になりますよーに！！
すてきな　いちねん　に　なりますよーに！！
I hope your year will be great!!
Literally: “great + one year + に + become + hope”
Note: The correct way to spell よーに is actually ように. Also, in this case replacing hiragana characters with katakana just adds a casual nuance. Essentially the same way we write “yeaaaa!” or “soooo” in English.

日本で何回目の誕生日？
にほん　で　なんかいめ　の　たんじょうび？
How many birthdays have you had in Japan?
Literally: “Japan + で + how many times around + の + birthday”

遅くなりましたが、お誕生日おめでとうございます！
おそく　なりました　が、おたんじょうび　おめでとう　ございます！
Although it's late, Happy Birthday!
Literally: “late + became + が + birthday + congratulations + ごがいます”

２５歳の誕生日、心からおめでとう！
にじゅうご　さい　の　たんじょうび、こころ　から　おめでどう！
From the bottom of my heart, congratulations on your 25th birthday!
Literally: “25 + age + の + birthday + heart + from + congratulations”
Note: I am most definitely not 25…

素敵な誕生日を過ごしてね！
すてきな　たんじょうび　を　すごして　ね！
Have a wonderful birthday!
Literally: “wonderful / lovely + birthday + を + pass / spend + ね！”

This lesson might have come off a bit show-boaty, but I really do feel so lucky that so many people felt the need to tell me to have a great birthday. I hope you can share the love with some of your Japanese friends when their birthdays roll around, and I hope this will help you understand if they send you a birthday message as well!

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This lesson was written by Cassy L., a guest contributor: