気持ち

What it means

気持ち (kimochi) means the subjective feeling or emotional state someone experiences; it covers mental reactions, brief moods, and the personal, first-person sense of comfort or discomfort and is used to report how an event, person, or situation is experienced from the inside.

Main meanings

• 1. A small token or gift offered to express thanks or apology, where the object represents the giver's sentiment rather than material value.
• 2. The degree of sincerity or emotional commitment behind an action, used to praise how much heart someone put into something.
• 3. A conversational softener or politeness device employed to express modesty, sympathy, or to make requests less direct.

How to use it

Common across spoken and written registers, used in casual conversation, service language, literature and advertising; appears with adjectives to describe comfort/discomfort, follows particles to state someone's inner reaction, and is used when offering small gifts or softening statements—politeness is adjusted by surrounding grammar and honorifics rather than the word itself.