Arigatou: Exploring the Origins and Benefits of Gratitude in Japanese Culture and Beyond

 

When written in Japanese characters (Kanji), “Arigatou (有難う)” literally translates to “It's difficult to do something.” In other words, it means “It's very rare.” It is said that this word originally came from a story about Buddha in Buddhist scriptures. Buddha told his disciple that it is extremely difficult for us to be born as a human and still exist in this world probabilistically, and Arigatou is a way of expressing gratitude for something as miraculous as that. From the perspective of brain science, it is said that gratitude has physical benefits, such as improving immunity, alleviating pain, and lowering blood pressure. Psychological benefits include increasing positive emotions, fostering optimism, and creating a sense of happiness. Furthermore, social effects, such as helping others, becoming more tolerant and benevolent, reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness, and increasing extroversion, have been observed. Expressing gratitude through our respective words and actions every day will eventually reflect back on us, as mentioned above.

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