{"id":59880,"date":"2025-01-20T13:09:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T05:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/?p=59880"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:31:14","slug":"say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/life\/say-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese never say “No”? 5 ways to reject someone politely in Japanese"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japanese is a traditional country and it values manners highly. The Japanese are always regarded as conservative, subtle, and indecisive. Hence, Japanese people tend to express refusals indirectly and ambiguously that they use a wide range of expressions to avoid using a strong “No” when rejecting someone or something. Do you know that there are many ways to say “No” in Japanese politely?<\/p>\n

5 Ambiguous expressions as ‘NO’<\/h2>\n

Here are some examples to show how Japanese turn down an invitation indirectly.<\/p>\n

1. \u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068… (Chotto…)<\/h2>\n

Saying “\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068… ” is a polite way to reject someone’s offer. This word is to convey the meaning of difficulty to answer the request.<\/p>\n

A: Hey! Are you coming to our party tomorrow? (\u660e\u65e5\u306e\u30d1\u30c6\u30a3\u30fc\u3001\u6765\u308b\uff1f)
\nB:\u00a0I’m sorry, I something to do tomorrow so… (\u3054\u3081\u3093\u306a\u3055\u3044\u3001\u660e\u65e5\u306f\u7528\u4e8b\u304c\u3042\u308b\u306e\u3067\u3001\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068…)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. \u3046\u3046\u3093 (Uun)<\/h2>\n

“\u3046\u3046\u3093” is a very casual way of saying “no.” This expression can only be used between close friends and family members. Please be careful not to use this when having a conversation with your boss!<\/p>\n

A: Do you have a piece of tissue paper? (\u30c6\u30a3\u30c3\u30b7\u30e5\u30da\u30fc\u30d1\u30fc\u3042\u308b\u306e\uff1f)
\nB: Nah. (\u3046\u3046\u3093\u3002)<\/p>\n

3. \u7d50\u69cb\u3067\u3059 (kekkou desu)<\/h2>\n

“\u7d50\u69cb\u3067\u3059” means “no, thank you.” To say “\u7d50\u69cb\u3067\u3059” is to say “no” generally but in an informal way but not so friendly.<\/p>\n

A: Would you like one more drink? (\u3082\u3046\u4e00\u676f\u3044\u304b\u304c\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f)
\nB: No, thanks. I’m fine. (\u3044\u3044\u3048\u3001\u7d50\u69cb\u3067\u3059\u3002)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. \u5927\u4e08\u592b\u3067\u3059 (daijoubu desu)<\/h2>\n

“\u5927\u4e08\u592b\u3067\u3059\u201d implies the meaning of “I’m good.” You can use the phrase to reject an offer or an invitation from someone very politely.<\/p>\n

A: Want to go out for a drink tonight? (\u4eca\u591c\u306f\u4e00\u7dd2\u306b\u98f2\u307f\u307e\u305b\u3093\uff1f)
\nB: Thanks, I’m good. (\u79c1\u306f\u5927\u4e08\u592b\u3067\u3059\u3002)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. \u3044\u3044\u3067\u3059 (ii desu)<\/h2>\n

“\u3044\u3044\u3067\u3059” is a tricky one. The phrase can be used both positive and negative ways, so you have to pay more attention when you hear\u00a0“\u3044\u3044\u3067\u3059” in a conversion to prevent misunderstanding.<\/p>\n

A: Do you want some cheese cake? (\u30c1\u30fc\u30ba\u30b1\u30fc\u30ad\u3092\u98df\u3079\u308b\uff1f)
\nB: No thanks. I’m so full. (\u3044\u3044\u3067\u3059\u3002\u304a\u8179\u3044\u3063\u3071\u3044\u3067\u3059\u3002)<\/p>\n

To decline an invitation while being polite, it is necessary to express your regret while showing your interest in the event. In the Japanese context, this is a way to develop a harmonious interpersonal relationship with others since you are showing some respect through communication!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japanese is a traditional country and it values manners highly. The Japanese are always regarded<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13736,"featured_media":59895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15,4,2],"tags":[9887,9971,9972],"class_list":["post-59880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansai","category-kanto","category-life","category-travel","tag-all-prefectures","tag-politeness","tag-say-no"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59880"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59961,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59880\/revisions\/59961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}