Nevertheless, for a confession, the most basic and widespread phrase is “suki desu” (好きです, I like you), often followed up by “tsukiatte kudasai” (付き合ってください, please go out with me).
It's customary for Japanese women to profess their love through honmei choco, ornate handmade chocolates or expensive boxes of sweets. Women will also, sometimes begrudgingly, gift male coworkers with mini boxes of giri choco, or obligatory chocolates.
kokuhaku 告白 こくはく , literally means "confession", and it is done when a man or a woman declares their love to another, and hopes to begin dating that person. The most basic way of confessing this is to say: 好きです。 付き合ってください。
The standard Japanese word for 'girlfriend' is kanojo (彼女 / かのじょ). This word can be used by anyone in different settings.
Pumpkin, peanut, bubby, baby, babe, bae, honey, darling, sugar, sweetie, honeybunch…
Linguistic differences aside, there is a larger cultural difference that causes a mistranslation to occur. Japanese people simply do not regularly say “I love you.” Someone might say “Aishiteru” in a sappy romantic movie, but overall the lingering impression after one professes their love in Japanese is a profound ...
Japanese are known to be shy, so once they become a couple, they flirt discreetly when in public. For example, you can see many couples walking hand-in-hand but not kissing much. Most Japanese feel embarrassed even just exchanging a small kiss on the cheek in public.
Japan is often accused of having an extremely low tolerance for social touching. But in fact, they are not completely alone in this; many of their neighboring Asian countries have similar approaches.
Japan-produced dating apps like Pairs and Omiai are geared more towards serious dating and have a large Japanese user base, which means you will mostly be using Japanese.
One thing you'll learn soon after arriving in Japan is that Japanese people love to compliment. Greet them with konichiwa (hello) and you'll quickly be applauded for your amazing Japanese abilities.
When Japanese people explicitly state “you” in their sentences, it's proper to use the person's name and attach a suffix. You are probably already familiar with “～san”, which is a polite suffix. If you use “anata” with someone who you know, it is rude.
Kareshi (彼氏 / かれし) is the most commonly used word for 'boyfriend' in Japanese.
First of all, suki (好き). The latter can be used more lightly than the other three. It expresses affection rather than literal love and is usually translated into “like” in English. For this reason, it can be used between friends as well as between partners.
Daarin (ダーリン)
Daarin is the best way to say 'my darling' in Japanese. Since the Japanese language doesn't really have any native terms of endearment, they have borrowed this from English! Daarin is a gender-neutral term of endearment, so both boyfriends and girlfriends can call each other this way.
Ara ara (あら あら) is a Japanese expression that is mainly used by older females and means “My my”, “Oh dear”, or “Oh me, oh my”.
Displays of Affection in Japan
Asian couples don't usually express affection towards each other in public. Public displays of affection between members of the opposite sex'such as kissing, hugging and holding hands — are considered rude. Even families rarely touch, hug or display physical affection in public.
To tell someone they're cute in Japanese, you'd say 可愛い (kawaii).
“Daisuki desu” means to really like or love something, so this has a similar effect as “suki desu”. For example, if you are confessing your feelings for someone, you might say: Suki desu! Tsukiatte kudasai.
Anna, if you want to get someone's attention in Japanese, just say SUMIMASEN.