15 Japanese Words You'll Hear Everywhere in Japan

Some Japanese words you don't need to say — you just need to recognize them. The moment you walk into a shop you'll hear i-ras-shai-ma-se (いらっしゃいませ), welcome; a train will announce tsu-gi wa (次は), the next stop; and a friendly dai-jou-bu de-su (大丈夫です) means "it's fine." Here are fifteen you'll hear all over Japan, and what to do when you do.

Knowing them turns background noise into signals. Most call for nothing more than a nod, but a few have a neat reply that makes you sound right at home. We've grouped them by where you'll run into them — at the counter, on the move, and among people — so they're easy to place in the moment.

In shops and restaurants

Staff greet every customer with a sung-out i-ras-shai-ma-se — welcome. You never answer it; a small nod is plenty. As you leave, you'll hear a-ri-ga-to go-za-i-ma-shi-ta called after you.

Ka-shi-ko-ma-ri-ma-shi-ta is the ultra-polite "certainly" a server gives when they take your order, and sho-sho o-ma-chi ku-da-sa-i simply means your food, or your turn, is on the way. Neither needs a reply — it's just staff being courteous.

On trains and streets

Station announcements are their own little vocabulary. Ma-mo-na-ku means a train is arriving shortly, and tsu-gi wa introduces the next stop. If someone offers you a seat or waves you ahead with do-zo, answer with a light do-mo — thanks.

On a packed train, a soft su-mi-ma-sen is how everyone edges toward the doors, and shifting aside when you hear it is all that's asked. Catch ma-mo-na-ku and tsu-gi wa together and you'll rarely miss your stop, even when the station signs rush past.

From the people around you

A few phrases stitch daily life together. Yo-ro-shi-ku o-ne-ga-i-shi-ma-su seals introductions — an untranslatable "please treat me well" — and you simply say it back. O-tsu-ka-re-sa-ma de-su is the all-purpose hello-and-goodbye you'll hear in any workplace.

Dai-jou-bu de-su works in both directions: someone may ask it to check you're okay, and you can offer it as a gentle "no thank you" when a shop pushes a bag or receipt on you. O-tsu-ka-re-sa-ma de-su has no tidy English match — it acknowledges someone's effort, and coworkers trade it like a hello all day long.

Keep learning Japanese

Recognizing these words is the fastest confidence boost there is — suddenly Japan is talking with you, not around you. Learn to say a few back with our free essential Japanese phrases, or start with our roundup of useful phrases before your trip, then practice them with audio and speaking drills in the Pretalk app.