Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 有り難い！ | arigatai! |
| 御蔭様で | o-kage-sama de |
Japanese speakers use different expressions depending on whether they are expressing personal relief or attributing their well-being to others. 有り難い！ is used to express a personal sense of relief or a feeling of how wonderful a situation is. 御蔭様で is used as a polite way to say "thank goodness" or "thanks to you" when responding to someone asking how you are doing, implying that you are well because of the support or influence of others, God or the circumstances.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 御蔭様で literally translates to "thanks to your shadow/protection," where kage (shadow/protection) refers to the support or influence of others.
Which one should you use?
有り難い！ is used to express a personal sense of relief or gratitude for a situation, whereas 御蔭様で is used to attribute one's success or well-being to the support of others.
How do you pronounce it?
arigatai!
Did you know?
- The characters for arigatai literally mean 'difficult to exist'. This reflects an ancient Buddhist worldview where something wonderful is considered a miracle because it is so rare.
- In ancient Japanese, the word kage in 御蔭様で referred to the protective aura or grace surrounding a deity or a high-ranking person.
- Japanese speakers use okagesamade even when the other person had no actual part in their success. It functions as a social lubricant to avoid sounding boastful about one's own luck.
Example sentences for Japanese are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Yui and Yota find a lost wallet.
- 結衣 Yui財布が見つかった！saifu ga mitsukatta!The wallet was found!
- 陽太 Yota本当によかったね。hontou ni yokatta ne.That's a real relief.
- 結衣 Yui本当に有り難い！hontou ni arigatai!Thank goodness!
- 陽太 Yota早く返そうか。hayaku kaesou ka.Shall we return it quickly?
Sources
- Wiktionary, “thank goodness” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
