Five different ways to say "f you" in Japanese

There's no direct translation of fuck you in Japanese, but shine (die) is one possible way to say it.

You usually try to be nice to people, but let’s face it. Sometimes you just need to let one rip on someone.

Or maybe you’re just curious whether the normally polite Japanese language actually has bad words? (spoiler: yes, it does!)

In this post, I will teach you how to say f you in Japanese.

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How to say fuck you in Japanese

First things first, Japanese doesn’t have “swear words” like English does, so there’s no direct translation for the f word.

Instead, there are a number of “bad” words and expressions that people use to mean something similar. So let’s take a look at five different ways of saying f*** you in Japanese.

Shine: Drop dead

Shine (死ね) literally means go die! You pronounce this with two syllables – “shi-ne”. The meaning is slightly different from “fuck you” in English, but the sentiment is the same. This word is highly aggressive and would usually be shouted at someone. This is fighting talk in Japan, so use with caution!

Shineba ii no ni: I wish you’d just die

Similar to shine, but perhaps more commonly used is shineba ii no ni (死ねばいいのに), which means I wish you’d just die. You are basically telegraphing that you want nothing but bad things for that person. Ouch!

This one is a little less direct than shine and more passive aggressive – something which the Japanese tend to excel at.

You’d therefore tend to mutter shineba ii no ni under your breath as your intended target walks past. I can confirm that I have heard this uttered several times in Japanese offices!

Kutabare: Go to hell

Kutabare (くたばれ) is another possible way to say “f you”. It comes from the verb kutabaru (くたばる), which means snuff it or kick the bucket. So again, we are basically telling someone to go die.

Fuzakeru na: Stop fucking around

Another gem of Japanese nastiness is fuzakeru na (ふざけるな), which means stop fucking around or don’t fuck with me. It comes from fuzakeru (ふざける), which stands for joke around or mess around.

This one tends to be favored by yakuza thugs and various other criminal lowlifes.

Let’s just say that if Joe Pesci were Japanese, I could picture him using fuzakeru na toward those “funny guys”. So bear in mind that law-abiding Japanese people will probably be terrified if you say this one to their face!

Kusotare: You piece of shit

We’re getting a little further away from “f you” now, but this one was too good not to mention. Kusotare (くそったれ) means you piece of shit or you shithead. Just for the record, kuso is the Japanese word for shit.

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Rohan

Rohan is a professional Japanese translator and the author behind Tanukiki.com, a blog that offers Japanese language tips and insights on life in Japan.

Rohan's favorite resource for learning Japanese is JapanesePod101, one of the best tools for getting started with the language. Sign up for a free lifetime account here.

Five different ways to say “f you” in Japanese