How to Say “Good Luck” in Japanese — All You Need to Know

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How do you say “Good Luck” in Japanese? Well, you can, but you don’t.

If that doesn’t make sense, stick around as I explain in depth all the details behind this difficult to translate phrase.

Difficult? Really? For any English speaker, this probably seems as improbable as it does absurd.

It’s such a common, almost ubiquitous, phrase in English that it seems really strange that there’s no true equivalent in some languages.

Well, when it comes to Japanese, you’ll discover that there are many things that can’t be translated easily between them (try to translate “yoroshiku” to English—I’ll wait).

Still, we can make some generalizations to cover you in most situations. Let’s start simple.

How do you say “good luck” in Japanese?

The noun, “good luck,” can be translated as 幸運 (ko-un). The literal, but very uncommon way to wish someone “Good luck!” would be 幸運を祈る (ko-un o inoru). The natural way would either be 頑張って (ganbatte), which carries a sense of “do your best!” or you can say, 気をつけて (ki o tsukete) which carries the sense of “be careful.”
 

“Good Luck” the noun

“Good luck” as a noun can be easily translated as 幸運, which is written phonetically as こううん and pronounced ko-un.

The first character in this word is 幸, which is written in hiragana as こう and pronounced “ko.”

This one character means happiness, or blessing, or fortune. The second character is 運, written as うん and pronounced “un.”

This character carries the sense of, well, “carry.” Also, “fate,” “progress,” “transport,” and “destiny.”

So, together these give us the meaning of “progressing fortune.” Sounds like good luck to me!

Let’s see how you might use it in a sentence with two examples:

Using koun in a sentence

If we wanted to wish “koun” on someone, we might say it as:

祈る can also be written as いのる and is pronounced inoru. This word means “to pray” or “to wish.”

Of course, if you wanted to use this, you’d need to be aware of the need to conjugate the る at the end.

All that said, this expression isn’t used very frequently, and would be more common to very, very literally wish good luck upon someone, rather than in the causal way “good luck” is used most commonly in English.
 

Good luck, the Japanese way

Alright, that’s enough beating around the bush! So far, we’ve made it clear that there’s no perfect way to express “good luck” in Japanese.

The literal expression just doesn’t have the same feeling as in English.

But surely Japanese people still like to wish each other well, right? So, what phrase or phrases best captures the same motivation?

The first, and most common, answer is 頑張って, pronounced ganbatte.

This is a conjugation of 頑張る (ganbaru), the base form, but we’ll get into the conjugations and their nuances a little further on.

Ganbaru literally means to persevere or persist. That said, it gets used in a sense that we wouldn’t use the word “persevere” in English.

Don’t worry, we’re gonna lay out what all that means in the rest of this article.

Ganbatte is your everyday, casual expression that roughly conveys the feeling of “good luck!”

In reality, it’s closer to “do your best,” or “go gettem!” but the motivation and feeling is similar to “good luck.”
 

Ganbatte in detail

Let’s take a quick look at the kanji (Chinese characters) that make up the word “ganbaru.”

The first is 頑 (gan), meaning something like “stubborn.” The kanji itself is made up of 元 and 頁, which mean “origin” and “page” respectively.

While I could find no sources on the etymological origin of this kanji, perhaps we can imagine the original page of history being conservative, stuck in the past—in a word, stubborn.

The second kanji is 張 (ha—it becomes ba when combined with gan due to a phonetic shift called rendaku), which means “lengthen” or “stretch.”

This one is made up of 弓 and長 which mean “bow” and “long/leader” respectively.

This makes a lot of sense, as we pull on a bow to lengthen it—you can almost picture it.

That said, in the original Chinese only the 弓 part of the character carried semantic meaning.

All this is interesting, of course, but the reality is that it has nothing to do with the origins of the word! 頑張る is an example of ateji, which is when characters are chosen for their sound, not for their meaning.

It’s just a bit of luck that the kanji chosen also seem to help us remember the word.
 

Origins of Ganbaru

There’s two leading theories on where this word comes from.

The first is that it came from 眼張 which was pronounced the same way, but meant, more or less, “to keep your eye on something.”

How the sense shifted from “keep watch” to “keep going!” is a bit uncertain, but it seems that sometime in the 18th century the meaning shifted.

The second origin story comes from the archaic phrase 我に張る. Here we have 我 pronounced as ga and meaning “I” and 張る pronounced haru and just meaning to stretch, as above.

This phrase meant “to be self-assertive and have your own way.”

Eventually, ganiharu became ganbaru and the sense of the word solidified into “persevere.”

Either way, the word started out with a bit of a negative connotation, implying “stubbornness,” or “obstinacy.”

However, since the Edo period, and right up until today, it carries a positive sense of perseverance and endurance.
 

How to Say Good Luck in Japanese — Examples

If you want to tell someone “good luck” with the sense of “good luck, you can do it!” you’ve got four different version to choose from.
Note: Each of these can mean “Good luck,” “Give it a try,” or “Do your best,” depending on context.

 
For the sake of completeness (and preparing you for seeing this word in the wild), I’ll share three more uses. These don’t really mean “good luck,” but they’re useful to know.

There are other ways to translate and use 頑張る, but this article is about how to translate “good luck,” so we’re really only focusing on the “good luck aspect of 頑張る here.
 

How to use 頑張る in a sentence

Formal ways to say good luck in Japanese

While there is no direct translation of “good luck” in Japanese, formal variants of the phrase include the common “ganbatte kudasai” (頑張ってください), and the less common “gokoun o oinori itashimasu” (ご幸運をお祈りいたします). 

When you are speaking with someone older than you or higher up in a company in Japan, you are going to want to use formal Japanese.

Formal Japanese should also always be used in the workplace and when speaking with customers. 

Using the wrong form of certain words can come off as unprofessional and offensive, so you must be careful with which words you use in certain situations.

When in doubt, stick to formal Japanese until you are told not to!

Ganbatte Kudasai – The formal version of “good luck”

The phrase “ganbatte kudasai” is the most common way to wish someone luck using formal Japanese. This phrase is acceptable to use toward elders, higher-ranking employees, bosses, and customers. 

Ganbatte (頑張って) means “do your best”, because hard work is valued much higher than luck in Japan. 

Kudasai (ください) means “please”, which makes the phrase formal. This is the most direct translation of a formal “good luck”. 

In most conversations, you can simply say “ganbatte kudasai” without any specifications, because the context should be clear. 

If you are trying to convey a specific meaning, you can add context to the phrase. This is most common in texts or emails, but it’s fine to use it in conversation as well.

Examples:

Gokoun o oinori itashimasu – I will pray for your good fortune/Good luck

A different way to wish someone good luck in Japan is to wish them good fortune by saying “gokoun o oinori itashimasu” (ご幸運をお祈りいたします). 

This is a slightly less common phrase than “ganbatte kudasai”, but it is a formal and kind thing to say to a superior or elder.

Koun (幸運) means fortune or luck. The “go” at the beginning is a particle in Japanese that adds formality to the word.

It is less common to add this, but would denote the highest level of formality to the phrase.

Inori (祈り) means to pray, and adding the “o” to the beginning to form “oinori” adds formality to the word.

Itashimasu (いたします) means to do something, and is the formal version of masu (ます). 

Let’s look at some ways that this phrase is used.

Examples:

It’s important to note that this “pray” is not necessarily religious. It is a hope for someone else’s success, and expressing that you will be thinking of them.

Take care of be careful in Japanese

What if you want to wish someone “Good luck” in the sense of “Take care,” or “Be careful”? For that you’ll use the set phrase 気を付けて (ki-o-tsukete).

This word is made up of three parts. First, the kanji 気, which in this context means something like “spirit” or more so, “health.”

Next is,を which is a grammatical particle which just indicates that the 気 is the object of the phrase.

Finally, there’s 付けて, which in this context sorta means “keep an eye on.” So, “keep an eye on your health.” Makes sense.

This is the second most common way to say “good luck,” so let’s review a couple of sample sentences.

Let’s cover two more, somewhat less common (but by no means uncommon) expressions.

If you want to say “Best of luck to you,” to someone you might not see again, give them a お元気で (o-genki-de)!

If you want to wish someone good luck with their health, as in “Get better,” or “Stay safe in these dangerous times,” you can say お大事に (o-daiji-ni).

How to say “lucky” in Japanese

In Japanese, “lucky” can be expressed casually by using the same word in English “rakki” (ラッキー). 

A bit more formally, you can use the phrase “un ga ii desu” (運がいいです) meaning “your/my/their luck is good”. 

The phrase “rakki/lakki” (you want to say it with a soft “r”) is most often said casually by the younger generation in Japan. 

This is a phrase always written in katakana, because it comes from the English word “lucky”. English phrases are almost always written exclusively in katakana. 

“Rakki!” is most often spoken as a standalone, excited utterance. If you want to add some context to it, here are a few examples:

Examples:

That’s so lucky! 運がいいです in Japanese

If you want to speak a bit more formally, or without the use of the English slang “rakki”, you can use the phrase “un ga ii desu” (運がいいです).

This translates to “It’s lucky/It has good luck”.

This phrase is often used to say someone has or had good luck in a specific situation, and not necessarily to say someone is lucky. 

The following examples are ways you can use the word for luck “un” (運).

Examples:

How to say “all the best” in Japanese

If you want to wish someone well in Japanese, you can use the phrase “koun o inorimasu” (幸運を祈ります) to pray for their good fortune, or ogenki de ne (お元気でね) to tell them to take care.

Which phrase to use in Japanese is, as usual, very situational. There is no direct translation of “all the best”, so what to use depends on the reason you are saying it.

Koun o inorimasu translates to “I will pray for your fortune”, but can also mean “good luck”. This is perhaps the best way to translate “I wish you all the best” in Japanese.

This phrase is typically used when you won’t see someone for period of time. Situations commonly associated with this phrase include leaving for a new job, moving to a new country, or starting a family.

Examples:

“All the best” to a friend in Japanese

If you wish to give a friend or an acquaintance a quick “best wishes” in Japanese, you can say “ogenki de ne!” (お元気でね).

This translates to “be well”, and is a general way to wish someone the best.

This is common among friends, coworkers, and family. 

If you wish to make it a bit more formal, leave of the “ne” (ね) at the end of the phrase, as this is a casual way to end the sentence. This would leave you with “ogenki de” (お元気で). 

This phrase is typically a standalone phrase with no context needed, and is used when saying goodbye to someone. 

If you want to leave a parting “all the best” with specific context, you can still use “ogenki”. The surrounding grammar changes depending on what you wish to express, so it can be a bit trickier.

Examples:

 
If you aren’t sure exactly how to say what you want to, then stick to the basic “ogenki de ne” (お元気でね). This is a catch-all for wishing someone well in Japanese, and is a common pairing with goodbye- “sayonara” (さようなら).

One more Japanese way to say good luck

You may, on occasion see グッドラック, which is just the phonetic transcription of “good luck.” To pronounce this right, you’d say guddo rakku.

As far as I can tell, this one isn’t really used in day-to-day speech. It’s just a way to more directly carry over the English expression. You’ll see it in some song titles, film titles, and when directly transliterating something over from English.
 

Good luck out in Japanland!

Alright, you’ve officially got a full rundown of all the great ways to wish someone “good luck” in Japanese.

Don’t forget that these aren’t exact translations of the words, but more like translations of the feelings and intentions.

So, the next time you want to give someone a bit of encouragement, you know what to do! Good luck!

Marcel Iseli

Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.