I'm familiar with にている and みたい however I'm looking for a way to say something
is something without literal implications. For example Michael Phelps is a
fish. Like he's not literally a fish so i wouldn't want to say Michael Phelps
は 魚 だ。

Any help on this subject would be great thanks.
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metaphor
Is there a way to express metaphor in japanese?
I think your premise is flawed. A metaphor, by definition, [directly equates
two things for the sake of comparison or
symbolism](https://www.grammarly.com/blog/metaphor/) with the implication that
they are not literally the same thing. So you _would_ say

> Michael Phelps は魚だ。

But what I think you might be looking for is ～に[例]{たと}える／[譬]{たと}える.

> Michael Phelps をよく魚にたとえる。 → (People) Often compare Michael Phelps to a fish.

Keep in mind that this always carries "compare(s) to" in the translation,
which then makes it no longer a metaphor. See also
[隠喩(いんゆ)とは](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%9A%A0%E5%96%A9-33301#E3.83.96.E3.83.AA.E3.82.BF.E3.83.8B.E3.82.AB.E5.9B.BD.E9.9A.9B.E5.A4.A7.E7.99.BE.E7.A7.91.E4.BA.8B.E5.85.B8.20.E5.B0.8F.E9.A0.85.E7.9B.AE.E4.BA.8B.E5.85.B8).
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I found this nice guide on metaphors: <http://kokugoryokuup.com/hiyu-meaning/>

So "のように", "のようだ", etc. are one way to do metaphors:

> 「山田くんは太陽のように明るい子だ。」
>
> Yamada-kun is a child that is bright like the sun.

... but it's also possible to equate things directly:

> 「人生はドラマだ。」
>
> Life is a drama.

So comparing things directly or using のように are both possible, but you have to
consider whether the person reading what you wrote will understand what you
meant.

I invite you to look at the examples and explanations on the web page linked
above.

By the way, note that "によると" means "according to". It's not really used for
comparison.
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So you want to make a metaphor [in its narrowest
sense](https://www.grammarly.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-a-simile-
and-a-metaphor/), something that does **not** use any explicit word like
_like_ , _as_ , _resemble_ , _compare_ , (の)ような, みたいな, 似ている?

Then the solution is simple; use **XはYだ/です** , and let the listener notice the
metaphor. It appears structurally identical to an ordinary sentence, but
that's the definition of metaphor (in the narrow sense), after all.

>   * 君は太陽だ。  
>  You are my sun.
>   * お父さんは悪魔だ。  
>  My father is a demon. (= a cruel person)
>   * 男はみんなオオカミだ。  
>  (literally) All men are wolves. (= sexually aggressive person, woman
> chaser)
>   * 彼は天狗になっている。  
>  He has become a [_tengu_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengu). (= big-
> headed person)
>

Please keep in mind that each culture has its own set of known metaphors. A
metaphor that works in your culture may not work in different cultures. I
believe "you are my sunshine" and "you are a demon" work almost in the same
way in English and in Japanese. But "you are a wolf" has different
implications, and "you are a _tengu_ " obviously does not make sense in
English. Conversely, "you are a chicken" makes perfect sense in English, but
君はニワトリだ makes almost no sense in Japanese.

Regarding _fish_ , ～は魚だ ("～ is a fish") is not a well-known metaphor at least
in the Japanese culture. People can instantly understand you are trying to
make some metaphor, but they cannot get the implication. Still, in creative
writings like poems, you can always say 君は魚だ instead of 君は魚みたいだ/君は魚に似ている, and
explain it later.
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