友達、誕生日おめでとう
tomodachi, tanjōbi omedetō
The Japanese phrase for "happy birthday to a friend" is 友達、誕生日おめでとう (tomodachi, tanjōbi omedetō).
This phrase is a casual greeting used to wish a friend a happy birthday. In informal Japanese, it is very common to simply say 誕生日おめでとう！ to mean "Happy Birthday."
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of two main parts: 友達 (tomodachi), which means "friend" and 誕生日 (tanjōbi), which means "birthday".
Which one should you use?
While 友達、誕生日おめでとう is the casual version, you can use 誕生日おめでとうございます (omedetō gozaimasu) to express the same sentiment more politely or formally.
How do you pronounce it?
tomodachi, tanjōbi omedetō
Did you know?
- Historically, Japan did not celebrate individual birthdays but instead celebrated 正月 (New Year) when everyone's age increased by one year simultaneously.
- In Japanese culture, giving a gift with the number four is avoided during birthday celebrations because the word for four sounds like the word for 'death'.
- If you are writing this to a very close friend in a text message, you might see the word おめでとう shortened to おめ or even おめ！ This is extremely casual slang used among younger generations.
Example conversation
Misaki gives a present to Hiroto at school.
- 美咲 Misaki大翔、誕生日おめでとう！Hiroto, tanjyoubi omedetou!Hiroto, happy birthday!
- 大翔 Hirotoえっ、覚えてくれていたの？ありがとう！E, oboete kurete ita no? Arigatou!What, you remembered? Thanks!
- 美咲 Misakiもちろん。友達、誕生日おめでとう。Mochiron. Tomodachi, tanjyoubi omedetou.Of course. Happy birthday, friend.
- 大翔 Hiroto本当に嬉しいよ。ありがとうね。Hontou ni ureshii yo. Arigatou ne.I'm really happy. Thanks a lot.
