Is さようなら still used in real life?


Amongst native speakers of English, "sayonara" is one of the best known
Japanese words, at least for words that don't fill a semantic gap ("sushi" is
derived from a Japanese word but fills a semantic gap). It's sometimes used in
English when saying goodbye, usually in a casual context.

And yet, I haven't really noticed the Japanese word さようなら being used in real
life, with a couple of exceptions.

One is when Japanese people are talking with English-speakers. One case I can
recall is a Japanese teacher using it at the end of most of her lessons.

The other instance seems to be when Japanese has re-imported the word from
English, and written it in katakana. For example
[サヨナラゲーム](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%A8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0),
or the English "Sayonara sucker" in "Wreck-it Ralph" being subtitled in
Japanese with "サヨナラ[something]" (if I recall correctly).

One possibility is that in Japanese, the word さようなら is only used in formal
contexts, which I haven't encountered.

Is さようなら still used in real life? If so, when is it used?




For the most part さようなら is only really the word to use when you do not expect
to see somebody again for a long time, or indeed ever. The word has this in
common with the English word "Goodbye", except goodbye has drifted from its
original meaning to the point where it's appropriate -- if sometimes a little
formal -- in any type of parting.

Japanese has a number of other expressions that better fit day to day use
including general expressions for when you don't know when you'll see somebody
next and more specific ones when you do know when you will see them:

**General**

  * じゃまた
  * またね
  * じゃね
  * また今度

**Specific**

  * また明日 _tomorrow_
  * また来週 _next week_
  * また月曜日に _monday, but could be replaced by any specific arranged time_

さようなら is still appropriate when you don't expect to see somebody for a long
time but arguably this is a far less frequent occurance in the modern world
then it was previously. It's rare that people will go on long journeys and
technology has made communication easier. The main situation I can think of
where it would still fit is if somebody is moving (a neighbour to a new area,
a colleague to a new department, a fellow student to a new school, etc) and
you don't expect to stay in touch with them.




For the most part さようなら is only really the word to use when you do not expect
to see somebody again for a long time, or indeed ever. The word has this in
common with the English word "Goodbye", except goodbye has drifted from its
original meaning to the point where it's appropriate -- if sometimes a little
formal -- in any type of parting.

Japanese has a number of other expressions that better fit day to day use
including general expressions for when you don't know when you'll see somebody
next and more specific ones when you do know when you will see them:

**General**

  * じゃまた
  * またね
  * じゃね
  * また今度

**Specific**

  * また明日 _tomorrow_
  * また来週 _next week_
  * また月曜日に _monday, but could be replaced by any specific arranged time_

さようなら is still appropriate when you don't expect to see somebody for a long
time but arguably this is a far less frequent occurance in the modern world
then it was previously. It's rare that people will go on long journeys and
technology has made communication easier. The main situation I can think of
where it would still fit is if somebody is moving (a neighbour to a new area,
a colleague to a new department, a fellow student to a new school, etc) and
you don't expect to stay in touch with them.

