SumiWhat itadakimasu and gochisousama really mean
Japanese meals start with itadakimasu (いただきます) and end with gochisousama (ごちそうさま). The first is a humble “I receive”, built on 頂, the top of the head: the verb behind it first meant to put something on your head. The second thanks the host for the 馳走 (chisou), literally “running around”: all the rushing about it took to put the food on the table.
Itadakimasu: “I receive”
いただきます is the polite form of 頂く (itadaku). The traditional explanation is that people raised anything they received from a superior up above their heads, so 頂く became the humble way to say “to receive”, and then, just as humbly, “to eat” or “to drink”. At formal meals, food shared in front of the gods or of nobles is thought to have been lifted to head or forehead height in the same way. So いただきます before a meal says “I gratefully receive this”.
頂 (chou, or itadaki) means the top: 頂上 (choujou) is a summit, and 山頂 (sanchou) a mountain top. Its right half, 頁, began as a drawing of a head, and 丁 on the left gives the sound. In Chinese the character first meant the crown of the head.
Gochisousama: “thanks for the running around”
ごちそうさま is ご (go), an honorific, plus 馳走 (chisou), plus 様 (sama), the polite suffix you see in お客様 (okyakusama), customer. 馳 means to gallop or rush, with 馬, a horse, on its left, and 走 means to run. In early Japanese 馳走 meant just that: running around. It then came to mean running around for a guest, looking after them and getting a meal ready, and finally the feast itself. Today ご馳走 (gochisou) is a treat or a fine meal, and ごちそうさまでした thanks everyone who ran about for it.
走 (sou, or hashiru) began as a picture of a running man. A foot, 止, was added underneath later, and over time the running man turned into the 土 on top. You’ll find it in 走る (hashiru), to run, and 競走 (kyousou), a race.
How old is the habit?
The words themselves are old: 馳走 appears in a text from 1096. Saying いただきます before every meal may be younger than you’d think, though. Nobody knows exactly when it started. The Japanese Wikipedia article on the phrase notes that many households once made offerings to the gods and the Buddha before eating but often had no set words at the table, and that the folklorist Yanagita Kunio wrote in 1946 that いただきます had spread only recently. It probably became the norm through home and school training from around the 1930s.
Today many people, and many schools, also explain いただきます as thanks to the plants and animals whose lives became the meal, and to everyone who grew, caught and cooked it. Many books and articles have given that explanation since the 1990s. It isn’t where the word comes from, but it’s a big part of what the phrase means to people now.
How to use them
いただきます。
Itadakimasu.
Let's eat. (before a meal, often with palms together)
ごちそうさまでした。
Gochisousama deshita.
Thank you for the meal. (after eating)
ごちそうさま！
Gochisousama!
Thanks, that was great! (casual)
今日は私がごちそうします。
Kyou wa watashi ga gochisou shimasu.
Today it's my treat.
じゃあ、お茶をいただきます。
Jaa, ocha o itadakimasu.
Thanks, I'd love some tea. (accepting an offer)
- Thank the restaurant too. Customers often say ごちそうさまでした to the staff on the way out, and the staff answer ありがとうございました.
- Putting your palms together is common but optional. A quiet いただきます on its own is fine.
- いただきます isn’t only for meals. When someone offers you a drink or a snack, it means “thank you, I’ll have some”.
- There’s a teasing use. When a friend gushes about their partner, ごちそうさま means “thanks, I’ve had my fill of that”.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 頂く | itadaku | to receive, to eat (humble) |
| 頂上 | choujou | summit, top |
| 山頂 | sanchou | mountain top |
| ご馳走 | gochisou | feast, treat |
| 走る | hashiru | to run |
| 競走 | kyousou | race |
Remember it
Before the meal, lift it to the top of your head (頂). After the meal, thank the person who ran (走) all over town to make it.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.