How to add short captions to your photos in Japanese.

My dear adventurers.

Finally, I arrived at Canada, and started another chapter of my adventure.
Sorry for not posting for more than two months.

In my previous post, I shared some ideas on how to warmly welcome a new member in your Japanese community. Have you tried it?

Today's main topic is posting on Instagram.
Do you like posting pictures on Instagram or other SNS?
If you do, I strongly recommend you to follow today's instruction. It's about adding a short caption in Japanese to your photo.

Posting your selfie

If you love posting your selfie, the most important expression is "わたしです。" .
It means "It's me.". So, you can use this phrase wherever you are.

「わたしです。」
"Watashidesu."
"It's me."

When you would like to share who you were with, just put "と。" after the person's name.

「たなかさんと。」
"Tanakasanto."
"With Mr. Tanaka."

You can replace "Mr. Tanaka" with any other word such as Dad, Mom, your boy friend or your girl friend.

「父と。」
"Chichito"
"With my dad."

「母と。」
"Hahato."
"With my mom."

「彼氏と。」
"Kareshito."
"With my boy friend."

「彼女と。」
"Kanojoto."
"With my girl friend."

Posting Selfie from a particular place

On Instagram or any other SNS, people post their selfie from various places, every day and night. If you are one of them, adding the particle "de" is the easiest way to express your location.

「日本で。」
"Nihonde."
"In Japan"

「空港で。」
"KuuKoude."
"At the airport "

「秋葉原で。」
"Akihabarade."
"In Akihabara"

「パーティーで。」
"Paathii de."
"At the party "

Posting a picture of a special occasion

Next examples are for the selfies to post on special occasions such as a birthday, Mothers' day, or a Wedding anniversary.

「誕生日に。」
"Tanjoubini."
"On my birthday."

「母の日に。」
"Hahanohini."
"On Mothers' day."

「結婚記念日に。」
"kekkon kinenbini."
"On the wedding anniversary."

「父の一周忌に。」
"Chichino isshuukini."
"On the first anniversary of Father's death."

Posting a picture without you

Remember, "と" means "with" in the sentences I show above.
If you post a picture of your girl friend WITHOUT you, you can not use "と".
Instead, you have to use "です" like following examples.

「彼女です。」
"Kanojodesu."
"(This is) my girl friend."

「私の学校です。」
"Watashino gakkoudesu."
"(This is) my school."

「わたしの部屋です。」
"Watashino heyadesu."
"(This is) my room."

「私の家族です。」
"watashino kazokudesu."
"(This is) my family."

「私の職場です。」
"Watashino shokubadesu."
"(This is) my office."

「私の友達です。」
"Watashino tomodachidesu."
"(This is) my friend."

「私の親友です。」
"Watashino shin-yuudesu."
"(This is) my best friend."

「朝ごはんです。」
"Asagohandesu."
"(This is) my breakfast."

「私の町です。」
"Watashino machidesu."
"(This is) my town."

「さくらです。」
"Sakuradesu."
"(This is) cherry blossom."

Expressing your feeling.

When you post a picture of Cherry blossom, it may be too obvious to say "This is Cherry blossom".
In that case, you can add your feeling to your post, like this.

「きれいです。」
"Kireidesu."
"It's beautiful."

As far as I see on Instagram, the following example "大好きです" is often used when people post pictures of  their favorite musicians or actors. I have to remind you to respect their right of publicity, but I encourage you to use this expression when you post a picture of your pet or your favorite food.

「大好きです。」
"Daisukidesu."
"I love this."

When you are excited with a result of a sports game or something, you can shout, "Yatta!".
It literally means "I did it!" or "We did it!".
So, you can use this expression when you pass an examination or when you completed a tough stage on video games.

「やった！」
"yatta!"
"I did it!"

When you see someone else doing something excellent, you can praise them by saying "Sugoi!". It has various meanings such as "Cool", "Awesome" or "Amazing.". 

「すごい！」
"Sugoi!"
"Amazing!"

Thus, posting on Instagram with a short Japanese caption is not so difficult. Maximize the power of your picture. Then you don't have to describe what you see in front of your eyes, in Japanese. This simple trick will drastically increase your range of expression.

Buy the way, as I always recommend, please do not stop your journey here. You can't acquire language without actually using it. Post any picture with a Japanese caption, and share the result with me.

In my next post, I will discuss about how to reply to a post on Instagram.

Thank you!