Hope in Japanese: “kibou” or “nozomi”, explained based on the kanji

How to say “hope” in Japanese

Japanese people would say “kibou” or “nozomi”. Both words can be used to say “hope” in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain them in detail based on the kanji characters. And also, I will explain how to use them through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “kibou”
• Kanji characters of “kibou”
• Example #1: how to say “there is no hope” in Japanese
• Definition and meaning of “nozomi”
• Nozomi as Shinkansen’s name
• Example #2: how to use “nozomi”
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “kibou”

First of all, let me start with the definition and meaning of “kibou”.

• kibou – 希望 (きぼう) : a noun meaning ‘hope’ in Japanese. Depending on the context, it can also mean ‘wish’, ‘desire’, or ‘expectation’.

It can mean various things depending on the context. But basically, its concept is always the same. To understand this word a bit more clearly, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

Kanji characters of “kibou”

Below are the kanji characters used in “kibou”.

• 希 : a kanji character used to express ‘hope’ or ‘wish’. In the past, it used to express something rare.
• 望 : a kanji character used to express ‘hope’.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “kibou” consists of the two similar kanji and literally means ‘hope’ in Japanese.

When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “kibou” through the detailed kanji check above.

Then, let me explain how to use this word through the example sentence below.

Example #1: how to say “there is no hope” in Japanese

Below are new words used in the example sentence.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• no – の : a case particle put after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make its possessive case, “watashi no”, which means ‘my’ in Japanese. Learn more about “watashi no“.
• jinsei – 人生 (じんせい) : a noun meaning ‘one’s life’ in Japanese.
• ni – に : a case particle used to indicate a particular place where someone or something is. In the example, it is put after the noun phrase, “watashi no jinsei”, to indicate the particular place where there is no hope.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “kibou”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• nai – ない : an i-adjective used to deny existence of things. In the example, it is used to deny the existence of hope in the life of “watashi”.

This is a typical usage of “kibou”. It is used as a noun to mean ‘hope’ in Japanese. When Japanese people are feeling there is no hope, they would say “kibou ga nai” which is a Japanese expression for ‘there is no hope’.

Then, let me explain another way to say “hope” in Japanese.

Definition and meaning of “nozomi”

Below are the definition and meaning of “nozomi”.

• nozomi – 望み (のぞみ) : a noun meaning ‘hope’ in Japanese. Depending on the context, it can also mean ‘wish’, ‘desire’, or ‘expectation’.

Its kanji character is the same as the second one of “kibou”. It means ‘hope’. Depending on the context, however, “nozomi” can also mean ‘wish’, ‘desire’, or ‘expectation’. So, this word can be considered the same as “kibou”. Actually, Japanese people think that meanings of both words are basically the same. For visitors to Japan, however, “nozomi” would be much more famous and popular, I think. It is used as the name of the most famous Shinkansen. This is an off-topic theme, but let me explain some history of the names of Japanese bullet trains.

Nozomi as Shinkansen’s name

Before Nozomi was launched, Hikari was the fastest model of Shinkansen. In the Japanese language, “hikari” means ‘light’. It was a very good name for the fastest Shinkansen at that time. But, unfortunately, the new model recorded a faster speed than Hikari. So, it needed something faster than light as its name. Then, Japanese people started wondering: what could be faster than light? This question sounds a bit difficult. But, they reached to the answer. After the contest for the best name, the new model was named Nozomi which means ‘hope’ in Japanese.

Example #2: how to use “nozomi”

Then, let me explain how to use “nozomi”. The example sentence above can be paraphrased with it as follows.

As I mentioned above, Japanese people think meanings of “kibou” and “nozomi” are basically the same. So, in many cases, they can be used interchangeably, and translated into English as the same word. Actually, as this example shows, the change from “kibou” to “nozomi” doesn’t have any effect on the translation.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained “kibou” in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained another way to say “hope” in Japanese. Let me summarize them as follows.

• kibou – 希望 (きぼう) : a noun meaning ‘hope’ in Japanese. Depending on the context, it can also mean ‘wish’, ‘desire’, or ‘expectation’. These two kanji characters mean ‘hope’. So, “kibou” literally means ‘hope’ in Japanese.
• nozomi – 望み (のぞみ) : a noun meaning ‘hope’ in Japanese. Depending on the context, it can also mean ‘wish’, ‘desire’, or ‘expectation’. Basically, this word can be considered the same as “kibou”. So, in most cases, it can be used in the same way as “kibou” is.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.