Greetings in Japan

Learn how to make a polite greeting to a new acquaintance and what to say when meeting an old friend. This lesson covers the first important steps in learning Japanese.

This lesson has focus on language structure and vocabulary. If you would like to learn about the Japanese characters, or how to pronounce each character, please look at the lessons in the sections “Pronunciation” and “Writing in Japanese” found at our lessons.

Key Topics Covered

Dialogue – Casual Greeting

Greetings are very important in most languages. In Japanese, greetings and polite phrases are given a special importance, as they reveal that you show proper respect to the other person.

The following dialogue is an example of how a conversation between two people knowing each well other may start. In the dialogue, the colleagues mr Smith and mr Tanaka meet. Mr. Smith just returned from a long vacation.

The conversation is written using Japanese characters on the top. Below it is written in Romaji, with Japanese using on the English alphabet. You can also find an English translation on the right side.

Japanese (hiragana): スミス: こんにちは。 たなか: こんにちは。　げんき　です　か。 スミス: はい、　げんき　です。
Romaji: Sumisu: Konnichiwa. Tanaka: Konnichiwa. Genki desu ka? Sumisu: Hai, genki desu.	English: Smith: Good day. Tanaka: Good day. How are you? Smith: I am fine.
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Vocabulary

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Notes

Note that the phrase Genki desu ka? meaning How are you? in Japanese is not at all as common to use as the English phrase “How are you”. It is not used only as a greeting for every person you meet. It is used if you really want to know if the person is feeling well, eg. if he/she has been sick or looks gloomy. It also is used among people that know each other, but haven’t met for a time, and therefore may wonder how it is.

The greeting konnichiwa is a daytime greeting. There are other greetings that are used for other times of the day. You can learn more about them in the language reference section on Greetings.

Dialogue – Polite Introduction

The following dialogue is an example of a polite greeting between two people that do not know each other since before. It is quite polite, and you will probably hear and use it many times when you meet new Japanese people if you are in a business situation.

Japanese (hiragana):
スミス:		はじめまして、スミス　です。
なかむら:		はじめまして、なかむら　です。
スミス:		よろしく おねがいします。
なかむら:		こちら　こそ、　よろしく　おねがいします。
Romaji:
Sumisu:		Hajimemashite, Sumisu desu.
Nakamura:		Hajimemashite, Nakamura desu.
Sumisu:		Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Nakamura:		Kochira koso, yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
English:
Smith:		How do you do, I am Smith. [Lit: For the first time, (I) am Smith.]
Nakamura:		How do you do, I am Nakamura. [Lit: For the first time, (I) am Nakamura.]
Smith:		Nice to meet you. [Lit: Please take care of me.]
Nakamura:		Nice to meet you too. [Lit: Please take care of me, too.
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This dialogue is highly formalized, and can just be taken as is. In English there are actually no perfect translations of these expressions. It may look a bit strange if you look at the literal translation. I have tried to translate the actual meaning of the words, instead of converting them to English phrases, as they also reflect the Japanese way of thinking. If it is too strange for you, just remember that it is very good to know these phrases. They are used quite mechanically, so just try to memorize them.

• Hajimemashite is related to the words 始め, hajime, meaning start or beginning, and hajimete, meaning for the first time. It is implied that it is the first time the two people meet, so the word is often used to greet someone you meet for the first time.
• Continuing with the next sentence, it starts with the name, and then the desu. Desu can in this situation be translated as (I) am. Read more about the copula desu in To be.
• The phrase yoroshiku onegaishimasu, or sometimes even douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, means something like “please be kind to me” or “please take care of me” in this situation. It is commonly used in Japanese, in various other situations too, such as for showing gratitude in advance or when asking for a favor etc.

Vocabulary

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Exercise

Try to answer these questions. The answers can be found below the questions.

1. What expression would you use only when meeting a person for the first time?

a) Hajimemashite
b) Hai, genki.
c) Genki desu ka?

2. What does “genki” mean?

a) hello
b) healthy, happy
c) good day

3. What would be a proper answer to the phrase “Hajimemashite, Tanaka desu”, if your name was Smith?

a) Hai, Smith desu.
b) Hajimemashite, Smith desu.
c) Smith, genki desu.

Answers

The answers are 1.a, 2.b, 3.b

Notes on Japanese Culture

The phrase yoroshiku onegai shimasu is related to the words yoroshii meaning good, and onegai suru meaning doing a favor. Therefore the literal translation would be something like “please be good to me”.

About business cards…

• In a business situation, these two people are likely to stand straight in front of each other, bowing. After this exchange of phrases, the meishi, business cards are often exchanged.

• When you give someone your business card, you hand it over using both hands, so that the receiver may read your card when taking it. The receiver takes it with both hands, and reads it immediately. You should not put a meishi into your pocket or so, but handle it with respect, and during the meeting it is common to have all received business cards in front of you on the table.

Japanese greetings is a complex topic as there are many cultural formalities mixed into the language. In this chapter we will explain some of the basic greetings.  We have arranged the greetings into the following categories; simple time-based; farewell and informal greetings; formal introductions; and seasonal greetings.

Simple Time Based Greetings

There are a couple of greetings that are very much alike English greetings such as "good day" and "good evening" These are ohayo gozaimasu, konnichiwa and konbanwa.

おはようございます – Ohayo gozaimasu 

Ohayo gozaimasu, or the casual short form "ohayo" is used as "good morning" from the morning until lunchtime. It is both used in families and in more formal situations such as at work.

こんにちは – Konnichiwa

Konnichiwa, good day, is used from around lunchtime until nightfall. It can be used in any situation. The word konnichiwa can be written in kanji as 今日は, but it is mostly written in hiragana as こんにちは.

こんばんは – Konbanwa

Konbanwa, good evening, is used after nightfall until morning. It can be used in any situation. 

Farewell and Informal Greetings

A standard polite way to say goodbye/farewell is to say "sayonara".

• さようなら – sayounara
  This is a bit formal way to depart. It would be similar to say "farewell" in English instead of good bye.

Other more casual ways are:

• バイバイ – bai bai
  This expression, taken from the English bye bye is a very common way to say goodbye to your friends.
• またね – mata ne
  This is similar to "see you later". Literally it means "again (right)".
• じゃーね – jaa ne
  This is similar to English "well, that’s it". It is hard to make an literal translation.

Coming to and Leaving Home 

When leaving and coming back home you can use the following expressions. They go in sets, and are also used in some other cases when it is the feeling of coming and returning home. It could for instance be used when leaving your office to go on a business trip. In such situations it may be said as a bit of a joke.

• 行って来ます- Ittekimasu
  Ittekimasu is said by the person departing from home. A more formal version would be ittemairimasu.
• いってらっしゃい – Itterasshai
  Itterasshai is said to a person leaving home. A more formal version would be Itterasshaimase.

• ただいま – Tadaima
  When you return home you would say Tadaima! or the more polite version Tadaima kaerimashita.
• おかえりなさい – okaerinasai
  When someone is coming back home you greet them with okaerinasai or the more casual version okaeri!  The most polite version would be okaerinasaimase, but would be used very rarely.

Take Care 

Other expressions used when departing are

• 気をつけてね – kiotsukete ne
  Kiotsukete is often used as "take care", for instance when someone is going away for a trip. Literally it means "please be
  attentive/mindful".

• 元気でね – ogenkide ne
  Ogenkidene is also similar to "take care" but with may imply that
  the speakers are not likely to see each other for a (subjectively)
  long time.

• お大事に – odaiji ni
  Odaiji ni is also used for "take care" but implies that the listener is sick, so it would not be used in other situations. 

Formal Greetings

When meeting a person for the first time, there is a special set of expressions that are often used. The following conversation shows a standard introduction of two people in a business situation. 

Japanese (hiragana): 

いらっしゃいませ – Welcome to Our Store

In Japanese stores and restaurants it is very common to greet people with irasshaimase. If walking through a department store you may even get it from every small store you pass by.

Other Greetings

There are probably a lot more seasonal greetings than the ones we introduce here, but maybe it will give you a glimpse of the most important ones.

New Year

For new year there are two greetings.

• Yoi otoshi o
  Yoi otoshi o is used before new year, to wish the person a coming happy new year. It is a set expression, but actually it is an incomplete sentence that means "a good year"
• Akemashite omedetou
  Akemashite omedetou is said after the new year has begun.