In English, I is I. 

In Japanese, I isn’t I.

I in Japanese is

Watashi,
Watakushi,
Atashi,
Washi,
Boku,
Ore

And we choose one of them according to the situation, the counterpart, and the status.

Watashi is the polite one.
Use Watashi and it’ll suit any situation.

Watakushi is the politest one.
If you are with somebody so great and high status, use it.

Atashi is casual and usually used by young girls or lower status women.  
Sometimes used by men with a specific background.

Washi is thought to be used by elderly men, but in fact, I have never heard of any elderly men using this.  

It is still popularly used in a rural area, though.

Boku is for gentle men.  (Also for gentlemen.).
Men use this in conversation with ladies.

Ore is for masculine men.
 It is used among casual communities such as classmates, college-mates, same-age-group-friends, and men-who-wanna-show-he-is-stronger-than-you to girls.  
It is also the first word a mama’s young boy uses to show that he has grown older.

These are all my own feeling and understanding of the words.  

Anybody knows more or use differently, tell me!


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