Translation: “I love you” (English Version)

Dear my friend who told me she would kill me if I didn’t post the English version🫶

(👇元の日本語の記事)

Don’t you find it sad that Japanese people don’t say “I love you”?

A friend of mine brought this up recently. Well, it’s true, isn’t it? If my family said “I love you” at the end of a phone call, I’d probably end up checking if everything’s okay with them.

But as they say, words are just tools, “I love you” isn’t inherently valuable in itself. Because love is invisible, without words it’s hard to grasp, and leads to anxiety, for the time being, humanity has to rely on words.

However, I feel like the world nowadays believes too much in the power of words. It’s like treating everything as if it doesn’t exist unless it can be explained with words, creating a sterile world.

While I sense that people here put bigger emphasis on words than those in Japan,
I think no matter where it was, the whole planet is heading in a strange, materialistic direction.

I’m not exempt from seeking the words “I love you” too. But the truth is, it’s just that I wasn’t ready to receive love, and I didn’t realize the love that many people were actually giving me.




Though I’ve never been told “I love you”…

One always finished eating the meal at the same time as me, a super slow eater,

One secretly carried an umbrella for me because I insisted that I always bring the sun and never checked the weather forecast,

One sent me a belly warmer all the way from Japan to Italy,

One never let me notice that he was a smoker even after spending over a year together,

One would silently flip through catalogs next to me and kill time when I was up late studying for exams,

One sent me the lyrics of アンパンマンマーチ when I was troubled,

One said to me, “see you again”even though we met for the first time at the entrance ceremony,

One always asks me “Did you poop?” when we see each other,

One studied a lot about medications so that I don’t have to take  them as much as possible,

One thought of me in my absence and bought me souvenirs,

One seems to be always saying good things about me through my mother,

One took the time to translate all my notes into Italian and read them all,

One always tells me “I’m gonna kill you if you say you are going back to Japan”

One never once said “I’ll miss you”since I decided to study abroad, until the last day,

One seemed to be translating this whole article into English without telling me and asking her Japanese friend if she’s ever told someone “I love you”,





I wasn’t prepared to receive these huge loves and it took me 20 years to realize that these were “I love you”s.

Only those with a container in their heart big enough to hold such love can perceive it.

Instead of seeking verbal explanations from others, wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could create a container for love within themselves?

I’m sure there’s still plenty of love out there that I can’t see yet.

Ciao!