Google Translate is not a native speaker. Find out what it really says — and what people here actually think when they see it.
Not in the database yet. We're adding phrases constantly — the 200 below are live now.
Real words. Real meanings. Really on someone's arm.
便所 benjoToilet. And a coarse word for it. 1 馬鹿 bakaIdiot. If someone told you it meant something else, they were pranking you. 2 過労死 karōshiDeath from overwork. This is a cause of death on a certificate. 2 変態 hentaiIn a biology textbook it means metamorphosis. On a person it means pervert. 2 冷蔵庫 reizōkoRefrigerator. 3 無料 muryōThis means FREE OF CHARGE. As in: costs nothing. As in: you are advertising yourself. 3 鶏肉 torinikuChicken. The meat. As sold in a supermarket. 3 定食 teishokuThe set lunch. Rice, miso soup, a main and pickles. 4If you want kanji that a Japanese person would be impressed you knew.
一期一会 ichigo ichieOne of the genuinely beautiful ones. Get this one. 94 縁 enThe word English doesn't have. Excellent choice. 92 空 sora / kūOne character that means both 'sky' and Buddhist 'emptiness'. Exceptional choice. 91 覚悟 kakugoResolve, specifically the kind where you've accepted what it will cost. Outstanding word. 91 幽玄 yūgenA real aesthetic term for beauty too deep to state. Almost nobody outside Japan uses it. 90 明鏡止水 meikyō shisuiA polished mirror and still water. The best 'inner peace' on this site. 90 絆 kizunaOne of the most loved words in Japanese, and it's a single character. 90 初心 shoshinBeginner's mind — the openness you had before you knew anything. Outstanding. 89200 phrases, worst first.
便所 benjoToilet. And a coarse word for it. 1 馬鹿 bakaIdiot. If someone told you it meant something else, they were pranking you. 2 過労死 karōshiDeath from overwork. This is a cause of death on a certificate. 2 変態 hentaiIn a biology textbook it means metamorphosis. On a person it means pervert. 2 冷蔵庫 reizōkoRefrigerator. 3 無料 muryōThis means FREE OF CHARGE. As in: costs nothing. As in: you are advertising yourself. 3 鶏肉 torinikuChicken. The meat. As sold in a supermarket. 3 定食 teishokuThe set lunch. Rice, miso soup, a main and pickles. 4 醤油 shōyuSoy sauce. 4 本日休業 honjitsu kyūgyōCLOSED TODAY. It's a shop sign. 4 出口 deguchiEXIT. It's the sign above the door. 5 台所 daidokoroKitchen. Just the room. 5 立入禁止 tachiiri kinshiKEEP OUT. Four kanji that look like a proverb and are a fence sign. 6 大根 daikonA radish. And in slang, a terrible actor. 6 切腹 seppukuRitual disembowelment. You are wearing a method of suicide. 8 神風 kamikazeThe original meaning is beautiful. The one everybody has is not. 10 愛は全てを征服する ai wa subete wo seifuku suru'Love conquers all' rendered as a nine-character sentence with a military verb. 11 特攻 tokkōShort for 'kamikaze attack'. Also biker-gang uniform vocabulary. 12 生きる、笑う、愛する ikiru, warau, aisuruLive, Laugh, Love — in Japanese it doesn't even scan as a slogan. It's three verbs. 12 引きこもり hikikomoriNot 'introvert'. It's the clinical term for someone who hasn't left their room in months. 13 痛みなくして得るものなし itami nakushite eru mono nashi'No pain no gain' rendered into archaic-flavoured Japanese. Twelve characters of awkward. 14 闇の戦士 yami no senshi'Warrior of darkness'. This is a video game character description. 16 私は生き残る watashi wa ikinokoru'I will survive' as a literal sentence — complete with the subject pronoun. 18 狼の血 ōkami no chi'Blood of the wolf'. Reads as a light-novel subtitle. 19 静かな戦士 shizuka na senshi'Quiet warrior' translated adjective-first. It reads like a fantasy character class. 20 強 tsuyo / kyōThis is the 'HIGH' setting on a Japanese appliance. 20 生存者 seizonsha'Survivor' — as in the news report after a plane crash. 21 忖度 sontakuIt used to mean 'sensing what someone wants'. Since 2017 it means political corruption. 22 戦士精神 senshi seishinThis is what Google Translate gives you, and it shows. 22 内なる強さ uchinaru tsuyosaAnother 'inner ___' calque. Japanese doesn't build phrases this way. 23 自由精神 jiyū seishinAnother two-nouns-stapled-together translation. The real phrase already exists. 24 力と名誉 chikara to meiyoTwo nouns joined by 'and'. It reads like a menu, not a motto. 25 内なる平和 uchinaru heiwaA word-for-word calque of 'inner peace'. It reads exactly that way. 25 浪人 rōninTo anyone under sixty it means: a kid who failed the university entrance exam. 26 恐れ無し osore nashi'No fear' translated one word at a time. The grammar is stilted and the 無し should be kana. 28 強い心 tsuyoi kokoro'Strong heart', word for word. It reads like a primary school worksheet. 29 危険 kikenDANGER. As printed on a high-voltage box. 22 外人 gaijin'Outsider'. Some foreigners wear it knowingly; be sure you're one of them. 27 忍者 ninjaReads like a costume. The single character 忍 is much better. 28 天才 tensaiDeclaring yourself a genius, permanently, in a language you don't speak. 30 悪魔 akumaReads as a manga villain, not as a threat. 30 忍法 ninpō'Ninja arts' — but specifically the fictional, magic-powers version. 31 狂 kyōThis is 'insane' in the clinical sense, not the fun sense. 32 覇王 haōSupreme overlord. Full anime-villain register. 33 犬 inuDog. Also the standard word for someone's lackey or a police informant. 35 死 shiIt just says 'death'. Blunt in a way that reads adolescent, not dark. 35 復讐 fukushūRevenge, unambiguously. A heavy thing to make permanent. 36 一度きりの人生 ichidokiri no jinsei'You only live once' — natural Japanese, but seven characters and a magazine-headline register. 37 猿 saruMonkey — and calling a person one is an insult here too. 37 水 mizuIt's the word on the tap. 38 自分を信じて jibun wo shinjite'Believe in yourself' — as an instruction. You're telling someone else. 38 力 chikaraIt's the word 'power'. Not a statement — just the noun. 38 覚醒 kakusei'Awakening' — and the first compound most Japanese people think of is methamphetamine. 39 火 hi / kaFour strokes meaning 'fire'. It's on gas hobs and Tuesday. 40 王 ōIt means king. Which you are not. 40 決して諦めない kesshite akiramenaiCorrect Japanese — but it's a full sentence, and Japanese has better ways to say this. 40 南無阿弥陀仏 namu amida butsuAn actual prayer. Six characters, and it's chanted at funerals. 40 大和魂 yamato-damashiiReal word, genuine history — and serious wartime political baggage. 40 生 sei / nama / ikiruIt means life. It also means RAW — as on a beer tap. 41 最強 saikyō'Strongest'. Extremely common in gaming and sports slang. 41 血と汗と涙 chi to ase to namidaA correct translation of an English idiom that Japanese doesn't share. 42 死神 shinigamiReal folklore word — now almost entirely owned by anime. 42 刀 katanaIt's the object. Two strokes that say 'knife'. 43 頑張れ ganbare'Keep going!' — shouted at someone else. On your own skin the grammar points outward. 43 山 yamaThree strokes that say 'mountain'. It's a map symbol. 44 後悔なし kōkai nashi'No regrets' — comprehensible, but stiff. There's a better idiom. 44 大和撫子 yamato nadeshikoThe idealised traditional Japanese woman. Beautiful phrase, complicated politics. 44 おもてなし omotenashiJapanese hospitality — and, since 2013, an Olympic bid slogan. 44 改善 kaizenIn English it's a philosophy. In Japanese it's the word 'improvement'. 45 兵 tsuwamono / heiRead as 'tsuwamono' it's a classical warrior. Read as 'hei' it's an army private. 45 陽 yō / hiIt means the sun, but it doesn't stand alone well. 46 天使 tenshiCorrect, and much cuter in Japanese than you'd expect. 46 鳥居 toriiThe shrine gate — the object, not the idea. 46 嵐 arashiGreat character. Unfortunately it's also one of the biggest boy bands in Japanese history. 47 師 shiIt means teacher — and as a suffix, it's a job licence. 47 もったいない mottainaiReal concept, genuinely deep — but six hiragana make a weak tattoo. 47 石の上にも三年 ishi no ue nimo sannen'Three years on a rock' — sit long enough and even stone warms up. 47 無双 musōReal word meaning 'without equal'. Also the name of a very famous video game series. 48 懐かしい natsukashiiReal word, warm feeling — but it's an adjective you exclaim, not a noun you wear. 48 夢 yumeFine, pretty, and enormously overused — mostly by Japanese teenagers. 48 闇 yamiA great-looking character with strong 'my dark side' energy. 49 千里の道も一歩から senri no michi mo ippo karaThe real proverb — all ten characters of it. 49 無敵 mutekiReal word, decent characters, and a fairly large claim about yourself. 50 愛 aiCorrect, but it's the single most common kanji tattoo in the world. 50 名誉 meiyoIt means honour — mostly in the reputational, legal sense. 51 弱肉強食 jakuniku kyōshoku'The weak are meat, the strong eat.' Vivid, real — and a bleak thing to declare. 51 剣 ken / tsurugiBetter than 刀, but still a noun for an object. 52 建前 tatemaeThe public face you present. Wearing it is a slightly strange thing to announce. 52 侍 samuraiIt's a job title, not a personality trait. 52 神のみぞ知る kami nomi zo shiruA real Japanese set phrase — but classical grammar and six characters long. 53 不死鳥 fushichōLiterally 'undying bird' — the translated Western phoenix. It reads as a translation. 54 父 chichiSame problem as 母 — it's the formal reference term, not the affectionate one. 54 母 hahaCorrect — but it's the formal word you use *about* your mother, not *to* her. 55 侘寂 wabi-sabiThe concept is real. This exact two-kanji spelling is mostly a Western invention. 55 永遠の愛 eien no aiCorrect Japanese. Also the title of roughly nine hundred ballads. 55 誇り hokoriIt means pride. It's also a homophone for 'dust'. 56 傷 kizuWound or scar — including the literal medical kind, and 'damaged goods'. 57 正義 seigiCorrect — with a slightly superhero-cartoon register. 58 生き甲斐 ikigaiA real, lovely word — and almost certainly not what the Venn diagram told you it means. 58 般若 hannyaIt means Buddhist wisdom. It also means the horned mask of a woman consumed by jealousy. 60 武士魂 bushi-damashiiUnderstandable, and it looks great — but it's a coined compound, not a dictionary word. 62 因果応報 inga ōhōKarma — but specifically the version where the bad thing comes back to you. 63 侍魂 samurai-damashiiA coinage, but a well-established one — you'll hear it in sports commentary. 64 花 hanaCorrect and pleasant, but it's the generic word for 'flower'. 62 星 hoshiCorrect and pretty. Doesn't say much beyond 'star'. 64 家族 kazokuCorrect, but it's the plain administrative noun for 'family'. 64 蛇 hebiSnake. In Japan it's a money charm as much as a menace. 65 運命 unmeiCorrect, common, and a bit melodramatic. 66 月 tsukiSimple and clean. Also means 'month', which slightly flattens it. 68 兄弟 kyōdaiBrothers — literal siblings, and also the yakuza sense of sworn brothers. 68 幸 sachi / kōHappiness and good fortune. Pleasant, common, often a name. 69 影 kageCorrect and visually interesting. Slightly moodier in Japanese than in English. 70 雪 yukiPretty, correct, and very commonly a girl's name. 70 友 tomoSimple, warm and correct. 70 森林浴 shinrin-yoku'Forest bathing' — real word, and younger than you'd think. 70 和 waReal, positive, and slightly bland. Also means 'Japanese-style'. 70 海 umiClean, common, genuinely nice-looking. 71 涙 namidaCorrect and quietly affecting. Doesn't overclaim. 71 約束 yakusokuCorrect and everyday. Not ceremonial — this is 'see you at seven'. 71 断捨離 danshariRefuse, discard, detach. A decluttering philosophy with Buddhist bones. 71 光 hikariClean, positive, and correct. Also a bullet train. 72 謙虚 kenkyoCorrect — with the small irony of announcing your humility on your skin. 72 春夏秋冬 shunkashūtōSpring summer autumn winter. Clean, obvious, and pleasant. 72 我慢 gamanBearing the unbearable without complaint. Central Japanese virtue — and a contested one. 72 自由 jiyūThe correct word for freedom — the one people get wrong. 72 雷 kaminariDense, dramatic, and it means what you think. 73 感謝 kanshaCorrect and warm. Slightly formal — it's the word on thank-you banners. 73 今 imaNow. Four strokes, no ambiguity, ages perfectly. 73 狼 ōkamiCorrect and strong. Japanese wolves went extinct, which adds something. 74 風 kaze / fūClean and open. Also means 'style' or 'manner', which is a nice bonus. 74 勇気 yūkiCorrect, warm, and slightly younger-sounding than you might expect. 74 積読 tsundokuBuying books and never reading them. A joke word, and a good one. 74 虎 toraBold character, unambiguous meaning, deep traditional roots. 75 守護 shugoProtection in the guardian-spirit sense. Solid choice. 75 鯉 koiThe carp — and there's a real legend behind the perseverance meaning. 76 努力 doryokuThe virtue Japanese culture actually rewards. Unglamorous and well respected. 76 電光石火 denkō sekkaLightning and flint-spark. Real idiom for something over in an instant. 76 龍 ryūCorrect, spectacular to look at, and very, very popular. 76 魂 tamashiiCorrect and weighty. Slightly more 'departed spirit' than English 'soul'. 77 生き様 ikizamaThe way a person has lived — visible in what it cost them. 77 本音 honneWhat you actually think, as opposed to what you say. A load-bearing Japanese concept. 77 忠犬 chūkenThe faithful dog. Everyone will think of Hachikō, and that's a good thing. 77 桜 sakuraCorrect, lovely, and carries real philosophical weight — but everyone has it. 78 一生懸命 isshōkenmeiGiving something everything you have. Everyday, sincere, and with a good backstory. 78 鬼 oniThe Japanese ogre — and, as a prefix, it just means 'insanely'. 78 鷹 takaMagnificent character, rarely chosen, and it means exactly what it says. 79 炎 honōTwo fires stacked. Far better than the single 火. 79 忍耐 nintaiEndurance, doubled. The two-character version of 忍. 79 金継ぎ kintsugiRepairing pottery with gold so the break becomes the beauty. Real craft, real meaning. 79 心機一転 shinki ittenA complete change of heart and a fresh start. Exactly what people mean by 'new beginning'. 79 心 kokoroHeart and mind in one character — a concept English has to use two words for. 80 蝶 chōThe safe, beautiful way to say 'transformation' — unlike 変態. 80 信 shinTrust and belief in one character. Clean and well-built. 80 木漏れ日 komorebiSunlight leaking through leaves. Real word, and as lovely as advertised. 80 刹那 setsunaA Buddhist instant — the smallest possible unit of time. Beautiful characters. 80 鳳凰 hōōThe real East Asian phoenix — not the Western one that burns. 81 修行 shugyōTraining as a spiritual practice — not going to the gym. 81 一途 ichizuDevoted to one thing, or one person, completely. Warm and slightly romantic. 81 蓮 hasu / renReal Buddhist symbolism, and a striking character. 82 仁 jinThe Confucian core virtue. Quiet, deep, and only four strokes. 82 粋 ikiEdo-period cool: understated, effortless, never trying. Excellent and rare. 82 七転び八起き nanakorobi yaokiReal proverb, right meaning — but it's six characters and reads as a sentence. 82 無常 mujōThe short version of 諸行無常. Same idea, two characters, less funereal. 83 慈悲 jihiBuddhist compassion — giving joy and removing suffering. Genuinely deep. 83 間 maThe meaningful gap — in space, in music, in conversation. Superb single character. 83 起死回生 kishi kaiseiRaising the dead back to life — a comeback from a hopeless position. 83 忍 nin / shinobuThe serious half of 'ninja'. A real virtue, and a strong character. 83 悠々自適 yūyū jitekiLiving entirely at your own pace, free of anyone's schedule. 83 道 michi / dōThe 'dō' in judo, kendo, bushido. A road and a discipline at once. 84 恩 onA debt of kindness you owe someone. English has no word for this. 84 物の哀れ mono no awareThe ache of knowing beautiful things end. A genuine, central Japanese aesthetic. 84 泰然自若 taizen jijakuCompletely unshaken, whatever is happening. Formal and strong. 84 智慧 chieWisdom in the deep, Buddhist sense — not cleverness. 84 静寂 seijakuCorrect and pretty — the good version of 'inner peace'. 84 一意専心 ichii senshinReal idiom for total, undivided focus. 84 無 muThe famous Zen 'mu'. Dense, serious, and genuinely loaded. 85 孤高 kokōAlone by choice, and above it all. The dignified version of 'lone wolf'. 85 温故知新 onko chishinStudy the old to understand the new. Confucius, and everyone here knows it. 85 誠 makotoOne character, real meaning, and a genuinely cool historical association. 85 諸行無常 shogyō mujōHeavy, real Buddhist doctrine. Make sure you want to carry it. 85 義 giThe first of the bushidō virtues. Dense, serious, real. 86 以心伝心 ishin denshinUnderstanding passed heart to heart, without words. Zen origin, everyday use. 86 武士道 bushidōReal, established, and it means exactly what you think it does. 86 闘魂 tōkonReal word, two dense characters, and it actually means fighting spirit. 86 凛 rinDignity with a cold edge. One of the most admired characters in the language. 87 切磋琢磨 sessa takumaTwo people grinding each other sharper. The Japanese 'iron sharpens iron'. 87 不撓不屈 futō fukutsuThe dense, serious version of 'never give up'. 87 平常心 heijōshinThe real Japanese answer to 'inner peace'. 87 百折不撓 hyakusetsu futōBroken a hundred times, still unbent. The best 'never give up' on this site. 88 無心 mushinClean, real, and it carries actual philosophical weight. 88 初心 shoshinBeginner's mind — the openness you had before you knew anything. Outstanding. 89 花鳥風月 kachō fūgetsuBeautiful, real, and almost nobody outside Japan uses it. 89 志 kokorozashiThe grown-up version of 'dream'. Underused and excellent. 89 幽玄 yūgenA real aesthetic term for beauty too deep to state. Almost nobody outside Japan uses it. 90 明鏡止水 meikyō shisuiA polished mirror and still water. The best 'inner peace' on this site. 90 絆 kizunaOne of the most loved words in Japanese, and it's a single character. 90 空 sora / kūOne character that means both 'sky' and Buddhist 'emptiness'. Exceptional choice. 91 覚悟 kakugoResolve, specifically the kind where you've accepted what it will cost. Outstanding word. 91 縁 enThe word English doesn't have. Excellent choice. 92 一期一会 ichigo ichieOne of the genuinely beautiful ones. Get this one. 94