KanjiPadHow to Write Goodbye in Japanese — さようなら
さようなら
“Goodbye” in Japanese is さようなら, sayōnara — sa-yo-o-na-ra, five hiragana and thirteen strokes. The shorter spelling さよなら is common in speech and in song lyrics; さようなら is the full written form.
It is heavier than English “bye”. さようなら carries a sense of parting for a long time, or for good — which is why Japanese people use it far less than learners expect. Schoolchildren say it to their teacher at the end of the day, and it appears in formal farewells, but colleagues leaving the office say お疲れ様でした and friends say じゃあね.
Said to a partner on an ordinary evening, さようなら would sound like the end of the relationship. When in doubt, reach for a casual variant instead.
It began as さようならば — “if that is how it is…” — the hinge in the middle of a longer farewell. As with こんにちは, the sentence wore away and the connective was left standing on its own.
Writing さようなら, character by character
13 strokes in all. Each animation plays once — press ↻ to watch it again.
- さ1
Stroke order
Three strokes: the horizontal, then the vertical, then the curve at the bottom.
- よ2
Stroke order
Two strokes. The horizontal comes first, then the vertical with its loop.
- う3
Stroke order
As in ありがとう, this う stretches the preceding yo into a long yō rather than sounding as its own syllable.
- な4
Stroke order
Four strokes — the most in this phrase. The small loop at the bottom right is written last.
- ら5
Stroke order
Two strokes: a short tick above, then the curve below it.
Write it yourself
Reading stroke order is not the same as owning it. Draw さようなら one character at a time and see whether your hand agrees with the animation.
Variants and politeness
What people actually say when they leave:
- じゃあねjā ne
- Casual “see you”. The everyday goodbye between friends; じゃね is even shorter.
- またねmata ne
- “See you again” — warm, and implies you will.
- お疲れ様でしたotsukaresama deshita
- Leaving work. Literally acknowledges the other person’s effort; the standard office farewell.
- 失礼しますshitsurei shimasu
- Polite and formal — leaving an office, a meeting, or hanging up on someone senior.
- 行ってきますittekimasu
- Leaving your own home, to the people staying in it. “I’ll go and come back.”
Common mistakes
- Using it as an everyday “bye”To a friend or a colleague it sounds final, even sad. じゃあね or お疲れ様でした is what the situation calls for.
- Shortening the ōThe second syllable is long: sa-YOO-na-ra. Clipping it to “sayonara” in speech is a small tell; in writing, the う is what marks the length.
- Confusing さ and ちHandwritten, さ and ち are near mirror images. さ curves down-left, ち down-right — worth drilling side by side.
More everyday phrases
Practise さようなら stroke by stroke — the app grades every stroke as you write it.