Otanjoubi omedetou (お誕生日おめでとう / おたんじょうびおめでとう) – polite (but slightly less formal than the full version, otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu).
Using the greeting this way is appropriate for most people, but for people you are closer to, you might like to use one of the following, less formal, variations: Here it is used to make your greeting even more respectful! Gozaimasu (ございます) is basically a very polite version of the verb ‘to be’. The ‘o’ is called an ‘honorific prefix’, and you can learn more it here. One way to make a native Japanese noun polite is to add an ‘o’ (お) before it, just like in o-tanjoubi (お誕生日 / おたんじょうび). You might notice that there is a slight difference in how tanjoubi is used here: in Japanese grammar, there is a concept called ‘polite speech’ or keigo(敬語 / けいご). Omedetou (おめでとう) means ‘congratulations’ or ‘best wishes’. The word for ‘birthday’ in Japanese is tanjoubi (誕生日 / たんじょうび). Here are a few Japanese birthday wishes to try. There are many ways to wish your friends, family, and even coworkers a happy birthday in Japanese! You can use them in a conversation or even as a message in a birthday card. Celebrations for the elderly (ages 60 and above).How do Japanese people celebrate birthdays?.Kore kara mo douzo ogenki de ite kudasai.Suteki na otanjoubi wo sugoshite kudasai.
