One word that comes up in anime a lot is gambaru (gahn-BAH-roo, alternately written ganbaru, in Japanese 頑張る), a happy, cheerful term which means to do one’s best, to work hard, to give one’s all and so on. It’s usually heard in its formal form gambarimasu (gahn-bah-ri-mass, “[I will] do my best!”), or else as a request, e.g. gambatte or gambatte kudasai (gahn-BAH-tay koo-da-sai, “please try hard!”), or alternatively in its “command” form, gambare! (gahn-BAH-ray, “Do your best!”). If you want to learn some phrases to surprise Japanese people with, these are good places to start, since everyone will react positively to them. In a country that embraces hard work and diligence as much as Japan, it’s not surprising that this term is used on an almost daily basis in many different situations. Japanese salarymen are expected to gambaru at work, while their kids gambaru in their studies at school, and the sick must do the same while they work to get over their illness. As long as a person is giving his all, he’s got the seal of approval from Japanese society in general.
