Good night in Japanese: おやすみなさい (oyasumi nasai)
Good night in Japanese is おやすみなさい (oyasumi nasai, “good night”), or just おやすみ (oyasumi) with friends and family. You say it before going to bed, or when you part from someone late at night.
It's written with seven hiragana: お, や, す, み, な, さ and い. Tap any of them to hear its sound. In romaji it's written oyasuminasai or oyasumi nasai: the same phrase.
The dictionary gives a kanji form, お休みなさい, but marks the phrase as usually written in kana. The kanji inside is 休, "rest".
One thing it isn't: "good evening". To greet someone in the evening, say こんばんは (konbanwa) instead (more below).
Oyasumi vs oyasumi nasai: casual and polite
おやすみ (oyasumi, “good night”) is the short form. Digital Daijisen calls it short for おやすみなさい. Japanese Wiktionary adds who uses it: someone above to someone below, or people on the same level.
With someone you barely know, Coto Academy suggests 失礼します (しつれいします, shitsurei shimasu, “excuse me”) instead.
| Who you're talking to | Say |
|---|---|
| Family, friends, your partner, younger people | おやすみ |
| Teachers, your boss, older people | おやすみなさい |
| People you barely know, formal settings | 失礼します |
So a boss or an older relative may say おやすみ to you, and you answer はい、おやすみなさい. Coto Academy gives this exchange with a boss who is going to bed first.
おやすみなさい is polite, but it isn't stiff. Many families say it at home too: Weblio's example sentences include saying おやすみなさい to your parents before bed.
Oyasumi meaning: good night, rest, a day off
Oyasumi (おやすみ) means "good night". As a noun, お休み (おやすみ, oyasumi, “holiday”) also means a rest, a day off or a holiday.
The root is the verb 休む (やすむ, yasumu, “to go to bed”). It means to rest, to take a day off, or to go to bed. Add the polite お, and you get お休み.
The last part, なさい, is the command form of なさる (nasaru, “to do”), a respectful verb. Digital Daijisen calls なさい a softened way of telling someone to do something, and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten uses お休みなさい as an example. It also lists a second use of おやすみなさい: a call to take a break. So, literally, it's a gentle "please rest". As a good night, though, dictionaries treat it as a greeting, not an order.
The phrase is old: Nihon Kokugo Daijiten has examples from the 1700s and early 1800s, including Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (1802 to 1809).
お休み on a shop door
Digital Daijisen's example of お休み as time off is 今日から一週間お休みです, about a week off starting today. Japanese Wiktionary also lists a shop or school closure as a meaning. So you may see お休み on a notice when a shop is closed.
Good night vs good evening: oyasumi or konbanwa?
こんばんは (konbanwa, “good evening”) is a hello. Digital Daijisen describes it as the greeting for meeting someone at night, or visiting a home.
おやすみなさい comes at the end. Digital Daijisen gives two moments: going to bed, and parting from someone at night. The rule of thumb: こんばんは when you arrive, おやすみなさい when you or they are heading to bed.
How late "night" has to be isn't fixed. When you part late in the evening, おやすみなさい fits. Earlier in the evening, a goodbye like またね (mata ne) may sound more natural.
The day's greetings, from morning to bedtime:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| おはよう | おはよう | ohayō | good morning | Morning, casual |
| おはようございます | おはようございます | ohayō gozaimasu | good morning | Morning, polite |
| こんにちは | こんにちは | konnichiwa | hello; good day; good afternoon | Daytime |
| こんばんは | こんばんは | konbanwa | good evening | Meeting someone in the evening |
| おやすみなさい | おやすみなさい | oyasumi nasai | good night | Going to bed, or parting late |
More on each is in Hello in Japanese.
Leaving work at night: お疲れ様でした, not おやすみ
Even late at night, the usual office goodbye is not おやすみ. When you leave first, you say お先に失礼します (おさきにしつれいします, osaki ni shitsurei shimasu, “pardon me for leaving (first)”). Colleagues answer お疲れ様 (おつかれさま, otsukaresama, “see you”), usually as お疲れ様でした. Digital Daijisen says お疲れ様 thanks someone for their effort, and is also said at work to people going home first.
Can you say おやすみなさい to your boss? Late at night it's basically fine, says a business manners article in Oggi: after working late, at the station after a work gathering, or in a late-night work chat. With someone you've only just met, or when things are still formal, it can feel too familiar. Oggi's alternatives include 失礼いたします and 「お疲れ様でした。ゆっくり休んでくださいね」.
Oggi adds that in inns and service jobs, staff may say the even politer おやすみなさいませ.
All the office goodbyes are in Goodbye in Japanese.
Other ways to say good night
A few other words fit the end of the evening:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| また明日 | またあした | mata ashita | see you tomorrow | See you tomorrow: when you'll meet again the next day |
| お疲れ | おつかれ | otsukare | see you; goodbye; goodnight | Close colleagues and friends; the dictionary marks it colloquial |
| グッドナイト | グッドナイト | guddonaito | good night | The English word: casual and playful |
| ゆっくり | ゆっくり | yukkuri | well (e.g. sleep); comfortably | Sleep well: as in Oggi's お疲れ様でした。ゆっくり休んでくださいね |
There's no fixed Japanese phrase for "sweet dreams" in the dictionary. In practice, many people simply say おやすみ. For romantic words, see I love you in Japanese.
How to respond to oyasumi
Say it back, at the same level. おやすみ gets おやすみ, and おやすみなさい gets おやすみなさい. When someone above you says おやすみ, answer はい、おやすみなさい.
Coto Academy's casual example: a friend says 「そろそろ寝るね、おやすみ。」 ("I'm about to sleep, goodnight"), and you answer 「おやすみ。」. The verb in it is 寝る (ねる, neru, “to go to bed”).
Practise the greetings
こんばんは, さようなら, またね and more, with their sound, in a two-minute quiz.
Questions about good night in Japanese
How do you say good night in Japanese?
Good night in Japanese is おやすみなさい (oyasumi nasai). With friends and family, say おやすみ (oyasumi).
What does oyasumi mean?
Oyasumi means "good night", and as the noun お休み it also means a rest, a day off or a holiday.
What is oyasuminasai?
Oyasuminasai is the full, polite way to say good night. Literally, it's a gentle "please rest".
What is the difference between oyasumi and oyasuminasai?
Oyasumi is casual and oyasuminasai is polite. Use おやすみ with family and friends, and おやすみなさい with people above you.
What is the difference between oyasumi and konbanwa?
Konbanwa is a hello and oyasumi is a goodbye. Say こんばんは when you meet someone in the evening, and おやすみ at bedtime.
How do you respond to oyasumi?
Say it back. Answer おやすみ to a friend, and おやすみなさい to someone older or senior.
Is it okay to say oyasumi to anyone?
No, oyasumi is only for family, friends and people younger than you. Say おやすみなさい to people above you, and 失礼します or お疲れ様でした with people you don't know well or at work.
How do you write good night in Japanese?
Good night is written おやすみなさい, in hiragana. The kanji form お休みなさい exists, but the kana spelling is usual.
Sources
- Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), including its notes that おやすみなさい is usually written in kana, the お疲れ様 sense "see you; goodbye; goodnight", and お疲れ as colloquial.
- What おやすみなさい and お休み mean, and their history: Digital Daijisen and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten on Kotobank, 御休みなさい (including NKD's second sense, a call to take a break), 御休み (おやすみ as short for おやすみなさい, and お休み as time off) and なさい (the 1753 example お休みなさい).
- Who says おやすみ to whom, and お休み as a closure: Japanese Wiktionary, おやすみ; Coto Academy, Saying goodnight in Japanese; Weblio, おやすみなさい.
- こんばんは and お疲れ様: Digital Daijisen on Kotobank, 今晩は and 御疲れ様.
- Saying it to a boss, and おやすみなさいませ: コマツマヨ, Oggi (20 August 2026).
- Reviewed by two independent reviews; the points about who gets おやすみなさい and who gets 失礼します, how late you can say おやすみなさい when parting, saying it to a boss, families using the polite form, お休み on shop notices, おやすみなさいませ, the tone of グッドナイト, and "sweet dreams" are waiting for a native speaker's check.