ヽ(*´∀｀)ﾉｵﾒﾃﾞﾄ─ｯ♪

2014年9月13日：Today is our first anniversary! I didn’t.. quite.. have this in mind though because I’ve been away for long. ^^; Coincidentally happened to notice the timestamp yesterday of the very first post, and realized it’s been one year already since I started this! And on this anniversary, I promise to regularly update this blog as often as I can, hopefully twice a week! So if you’re a Japanese learner, or just like reading what I share, please do subscribe to us by clicking the second button on the top menu. ^^ Doumo arigatou!

Ja.. On this note, let’s kanji/kotoba talk over wishing someone for their birthday or anniversary, in Japanese!

誕たん生じょう日び (tanjoubi)

Meaning: Birthday
誕生 (birth) + 日 (day)

Note that the pronunciation of 日 changes from ひ to び in this compound kanji.

おめでとう！(omedetou)

Meaning: Congratulations!
You can use this to wish someone for any kind of achievement or occasion.

To wish someone on their birthday, you would say:

誕生日おめでとう！ (tanjoubi omedetou!)

For formal usage, you can wish: お誕生日おめでとうございます！The おー prefix is optional, to make it more formal.

In case you forgot their birthday, and need to send a belated wish.. ^_^;

遅おくればせ（ながら）、誕生日おめでとう！

To ask someone when their birthday is:

誕生日はいつですか？

Trivia: The “いつ” here (meaning “when”) shares the same Kanji with “なんじ” (meaning “what time”).

何時

However, we write it in Hiragana for いつ and in Kanji for 何なん時じ.

And of course, if someone wishes you, you reply “ありがとうございます！” which is what I say to you now for your wishes. ^^;