For the longest time I've known that "aishiteru" means "I love you" in Japanese. Recently I watched some romance-based anime--- and the furthest the characters ever got to saying "I love you" is "suki", which I thought translated into "like". Now I know there exists no such thing as a perfect translation, because everything's dependent on cultural context--- but still, it confused me quite a bit. If "suki" is strong enough to represent love, then what does "aishiteru" mean?
The faceless people on the internet tells me that "aishiteru" is never used to express love because it's so strong, and it's not in the nature of the modest Japanese to openly voice their love. Apparently shouting out "I LOVE YOU" is only prominent in Western cultures. I guess that explanation makes sense. It turns out "aishiteru" means real devotion- something you'd say to your wife after you've been married for 10 years. When I think about it, "aishiteru" seems to be a frightening expression.
Then I turn on my music player, and I hear Super Junior K.R.Y. singing "tada aishiteruuuuuuuu~~~" and I'm like, "oh gawd." But yeah, I'm glad I looked up the context for "aishiteru", otherwise it'd be really awkward.
See, I'm one of those people who say "I love you" quite a bit, but I will actually never mean it. It's as casual as saying "hi" and "bye". When I want to show genuine affection, the furthest I'd go is "like". I like you. I mean, a genuine "I love you" sounds super scary. I don't want to commit--- gawwwd, what if we break up after 20 minutes? I'm too young for dedication.
...Anyway, as you can see, my Japanese is coming along. Yes, that's what this post is about.
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