Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Greetings are very important in Japanese. Both greeting and parting phrases are
called aisatsu. Someone who makes no aisatsu may be seen as cold and
dysfunctional. These aren't all the aisatsuout there, but they'll give you a good start.
Ohayou gozaimasu.
Good morning. (Hi.)
Konnichi wa.
Good afternoon. (Hi.)
Good evening. (Hi.)
Good night. (Said before bedtime.)
Konban wa.
Oyasuminasai. (Lit. Have a good rest.)
Ohisashiburi desu.
Hajimemashite.
Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
See you.
See you tomorrow.
I'm going but I'll be back. (Said when leaving
home.)
Have a good time. See you later. (Response to Itterasshai.
Ittekimasu.)
Take care. (Be careful)
Ki o tsukete.
I'm home.
Tadaima.
Welcome home. (Said in response to 'tadaima.') Okaerinasai.
I'm sorry for leaving before you. (Said as one
Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu.
leaves the office if leaving before other people.)
Thanks for working so hard. (Said to someone Otsukare sama deshita.
who's finished a task or in response to Osaki ni. )
Welcome.
Sorry to bother you. (Said when entering
someone's home.)
Please come in. (Lit. Please come up. Said to
someone entering your home.)
Youkoso.
Ojamashimasu.
Oagari kudasi.
Sorry
Just as saying a simple 'I'm sorry' will not work in every situation in English, there are
many different ways to apologize in Japanese. There are more forms than are listed on
this page; this is only an introduction.
sumimasen /
suimasen
gomen nasai /
gomen
shitsurei shimasu
shitsurei shimashita
moushiwake gozaimasen /
I have no excuse. (The gozaimasen form is more polite.)
moushiwake arimasen
ikenai koto o shimashita I've done something I shouldn't have.
watakushi ga warukatta I was wrong. (Lit. I was bad.)
Common Sayings
nglish
Japanese
Itadakimasu.
Do your best.
Ganbatte kudasai.
Daijoubu desu.
Douzo.
Onegai shimasu.
(Doumo) arigatou
gozaimasu.
Thanks.
Arigatou./Doumo.
You're welcome.
Douitashimashite.
I don't understand.
Wakarimasen./Wakaranai.
Sumimasen.
I'm sorry.
Gomen nasai.
Is that so?
How unfortunate
Shitsurei shimasu.
I am being rude by leaving before you. (Said when leaving the room
Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu.
before someone, particularly when leaving work before others.)
(You've worked hard so) you must be tired. (Said to someone
leaving work for home.)
Ojama shimasu.
Cheers!
Kanpai.
It can't be helped.
Shou ga nai.
Telephone Phrases
It is always difficult to talk on the phone in a language you don't understand well. Don't give up
though. Practice will help a lot. Listen very carefully to what the other person says. Talking on the
phone in Japanese has an added complication, since there are some formal phrases customarily
used in phone conversations. (The Japanese normally talk very politely on the phone unless
talking with a friend.)
Telephone Numbers
A telephone number (denwa bango) consists of the three parts, for example, (XX) XXXX-XXXX.
The first part is the area code. The second and last part are the person's number. Each number is
usually read separately, linking the parts with the particle "no". In telephone numbers 0 is often
pronounced as zero, 4 as yon, 7 as nana, and 9 as kyuu (as 0, 4, 7 and 9 each have two different
pronunciations). If you do not know the Japanese numbers, click here to learn them. If my phone
number were 1234-5678 it would be read "ichi ni san yon no go roku nana hachi." (Remember 'no'
takes the place of the dash in the number.)
To ask someone's number you can say Denwa bango wa nan ban desu ka.
Phrases
In Japanese, a lot of set phrases are used when speaking on the phone, especially in business
situations. One important phrase is "moshi moshi." It is used by the caller when the person at the
other end picks up. Some people say "moshi moshi" to answer the phone, but "hai" is used more
often especially in business. (Do not say 'mushi mushi' that means 'bugs, bugs' and sounds rather
silly.) Moshi moshi can also be said when you think that the caller cannot hear you or to make
sure the caller is still on the line.
Before hanging up the phone it is common to say shitsurei shimasu or shitsurei itashimasu. This
indicates that you are about to hang up.
At the Office
Watanabe to moushimasu.
Tanaka-san o onegaishimasu.
Hai, orimasu.
Chotto wakarimasen.
Onegaishimasu.
Please do.
Yes, it is.
This is Ichiro.
Is Haruko there?
Dengon o onegaishimasu.
Sumimasen.
Motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai.
Wakarimasu ka.
Do you understand?
Wakarimasen.
I don't understand.
Iie, chigaimasu.
No, you're mistaken. (Use this when people have dialed the
wrong number.)
Machigaemashita.
Help!
English
Japanese
Help!
Tasukete!
Fire!
Kaji da!
Keisatsu o yonde!
Get a doctor!
Isha o yonde!
Call an ambulance!
Kyuukyuusha o yonde!
Shoubousho o yonde!
Come quickly!
Isoide kite!
Go away!
Atchi e ike!
Give it back!
Kaeshite-kure!
Theif!
Dorobou!
Sawaranaide!
I'm lost.
Michi ni mayoimashita.
I'm ill.
Kibun ga suguremasen.
I'm hurt.
Tasukete kudasai.