How to Say "I Want to Live" in Japanese

生きたい

ikitai

In Japanese, "I want to live" is expressed as 生きたい (ikitai).

生きたい is used to express a strong desire to continue existing or to avoid death. It is a biological or existential statement about staying alive.

How do you pronounce it?

ikitai

Do not use 生きたい if you mean you want to reside in a certain place. Instead, use the verb for residing, such as 住みたいです or the casual 住みたいな！

The word 生 (sei/nama) used in 生きたい also forms the basis for the word 'raw', as in 生魚 'raw fish'. This reflects a cultural link between the concept of 'life' and 'unprocessed' or 'fresh' states.
Because Japanese often omits the subject, 生きたい usually contains no 'I'. Adding the word for 'I' (私は) can actually make the statement sound unnaturally emphatic or overly dramatic in a normal conversation.
In Japanese literature and song lyrics, the phrase 生きたい can carry a heavy, dramatic weight that sounds much more poetic and desperate than the simple English 'I want to live'.

マイペースに生きたい。
I want to live at my own pace.
This sentence shows how to express wanting to live at one's own pace using 生きたい.
Tatoeba #9993329 by Sim5634, translation #10004498 by DJ_Saidez
生きたい。
I want to live.
This sentence is a direct use of 生きたい to express the desire to live.
Tatoeba #142855 by arnab, translation #261906 by CK
どんな困難があっても、生きたい。
Donna konnan ga attemo, ikitai.
No matter what difficulties arise, I want to live.

Two friends are talking about a challenging situation in a movie.

健太 Kenta

あの主人公は、本当に生きたいと思っているのかな？
Ano shujinkou wa, hontou ni ikitai to omotte iru no kana?
Does that protagonist really want to live?
美咲 Misaki

うん、すごく強く生きたいって感じがしたよ。
Un, sugoku tsuyoku ikitai tte kanji ga shita yo.
Yeah, I felt like he strongly wanted to live.
健太 Kenta

美咲さんは、どう思う？
Misaki-san wa, dou omou?
Misaki, what do you think?
美咲 Misaki

健太君、すごく感動的なシーンだったと思う。
Kenta-kun, sugoku kandouteki na shiin datta to omou.
Kenta, I think it was a very moving scene.

Sources

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