月が綺麗ですね: The ulterior meaning of ‘The moon is beautiful’ in Japanese

月が綺麗ですね (つきがきれいですね, tsuki ga kirei desune)

idiom, trivia
○ ○ ○ ○ ● Word Level

Definition

月が綺麗ですね (つきがきれいですね) literarily means ‘The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?’. Surprisingly, however, it could also contain the hidden meaning — ‘I love you’. It is believed that this meaning was coined by Sōseki Natsume (夏目漱石), who was a renowned Japanese novelist in 19th and early 20th century and portrayed on the former 1000 yen banknote. When he worked as an English teacher and saw his student translating ‘I love you’ as it was in Japanese, he supposedly said, ‘Japanese people never say things like that shamelessly. You’d better translate it as “月が綺麗ですね (The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?)” or something’. Note that, however, you should take this story with a grain of salt, as there is no record left that validates it.

Caveat

The ulterior meaning of this phrase is recognised only amongst those who love Japanese slang or trivia. Therefore, even if you act as a romanticist and confess your love to a Japanese person using this phrase, he/she is unlikely to fathom your intention, unfortunately. Well, if you are looking for a cool way to do 告白 (こくはく; confess one’s feeling), it would be probably the best to be straightforward, saying something like ‘好きです。付き合ってください！’ meaning ‘I really like you. Would you be my girlfriend/boyfriend?’, where 付(つ)き合(あ)う means ‘be in a relationship’.

Related Phrase: 君の方が綺麗だよ

君の方が綺麗だよ (きみのほうがきれいだよ), meaning ‘I think you are more beautiful’, is a hackneyed phrase to use when your girlfriend says that something is beautiful, like the moon or stars in the sky. It is usually recognised as a corny and cheesy phrase, so you’d better eschew using it in reality unless you say it as a joke.

How to Translate ‘I love you’ in Japanese

The most common and direct translation of ‘I love you’ is ‘私はあなたを愛しています’. However, it does not sound natural, as we usually omit a subject and/or object of a sentence whenever they are obvious. It is also unlikely that we use a polite form (desu form) when talking with our partner, so it’d be more natural to say  ‘愛してる’ or ‘愛しているよ’, or ‘大好きだよ’ meaning ‘(I) like (you) so much’; and it would be better to call the name of a partner before saying these lines.

Having said that, there is no exactly equivalent phrase to ‘I love you’ in Japanese; 愛してる is used only among couples, and the tone of 大好き can be lighter than ‘I love you’. Also, as Sōseki supposedly pointed out, some Japanese people may feel too shy to say such a direct line to their partner.

On the other hand, you might be baffled that some Japanese people use ‘I love you’ very casually in English. In fact, many Japanese people misinterpret the tone of ‘I love you’ as much lighter than it actually is. This is partially because of the fact that the English phrase is ubiquitous in Japanese music lyrics. Therefore, don’t be surprised if your Japanese friends or partner say to you ‘I love you’ at an early stage.

Example Sentences

あなた: 月が綺麗ですね
You: The moon is beautiful, isn’t it’? [I love you.]

Ans.(1) [a witty and unrealistic response meaning ‘I love you, too’]
そうですね、あなたと永遠えいえんに眺ながめていたいです。
Yes, I wish I could watch it with you for good.

Ans.(2) [a witty and unrealistic response meaning ‘I’m sorry’]
手てが届とどかないから、そう感かんじるのかもしれませんね。
(You) may think so because (you) cannot touch it.

Ans.(3) [a realistic response]
そうだね〜。ところで大事だいじな話はなしがあるって言いってなかった？何なに？
Yep. By the way, you said you had something important to tell me, right? What is it?

See Also

告る (Kokuru): Japanese Slang ‘Confess Your Feelings to Your Crush’