30+ Basic Japanese Phrases for Travelers to Japan

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Planning a trip to Japan? Arm yourself with these essential Japanese phrases for travelers, and it will help your trip go a whole lot more smoothly!

Don’t worry – you don’t need to speak fluent Japanese in order to have the best trip ever. You might be relieved to learn that many Japanese people are likely to have a bit of conversational English.

In fact, some Japanese locals will even excitedly approach tourists in the hopes that they can practice their English skills with them!

That being said, making an effort to learn some of the language can really enhance your experience.

Japanese people are generally delighted to see a tourist really immersing themselves in their culture!

Not only that, but a few basic Japanese phrases will really come in handy if you find yourself in a situation where English is not an option.

Let’s have a look at some simple Japanese phrases for tourists:

Table Of Contents

Basic Japanese phrases
Directions in Japanese
Store / restaurant phrases in Japanese
Emergency phrases

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Basic Japanese phrases

A vibrant city street at night in Japan, adorned with brightly lit signs. People walk through the bustling scene, and two individuals in traditional clothing are seen from behind, with one holding an umbrella—perfect for practicing your favorite Japanese phrases for travelers.

Here are a few basic Japanese greetings and other phrases you will use in daily conversation.

English	Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji
Hello	こんにちは	こんにちは	konnichiwa
Goodbye	さようなら	さようなら	sayounara
Thank you	ありがとうございます	ありがとうございます	arigatou gozaimasu
Excuse me	すみません	すみません	sumimasen
Yes	はい	はい	hai
No	いいえ	いいえ	iie
My name is ○○	私の名前は○○	わたしのなまえは○○	watashi no namae wa ○○
I come from ○○	私は○○から来ました	わたしは○○からきました	watashi wa ○○ kara kimashita
I am here for travel	観光でここにいます	かんこうでここにいます	kankou de koko ni imasu
Do you speak English?	英語を話せますか	えいごをはなせますか	eigo wo hanasemasu ka
I can’t speak Japanese	日本語は話せません	にほんごははなせません	nihongo wa hanasemasen
I can speak a little Japanese	少し日本語を話せます	すこしにほんごをはなせます	sukoshi nihongo wo hanasemasu
Can you repeat that?	もう一度お願いします	もういちどおねがいします	mou ichi do onegai shimasu
What time is it?	何時ですか	なんじですか	nan ji desu ka
How much is it?	いくらですか	いくらですか	ikura desu ka
Is there WiFi?	WiFi ありますか	WiFi ありますか	WiFi arimasu ka
What is this?	これはなんですか	これはなんですか	kore wa nan desu ka

Directions in Japanese

Two people look at a large, illuminated map display in a subway or train station. One person points at the map while the other holds a smartphone, possibly checking Japanese phrases for travelers to aid their journey.

Luckily for tourists, Japan can be easy enough to navigate, despite a language barrier. This is especially true in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka.

In fact, in preparation for tourists visiting during the course of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the city began to display many more English signposts in train stations and other places around the city.

Google maps or Apple Maps are also pretty reliable for traveling around. Even so far as telling you which platform you can find your train! However, we can’t always rely on technology and signposting…

Most Japanese people would be happy to help you out. If you find yourself wanting to try your hand in the local language, here are some Japanese phrases that will come in handy when asking for directions.

○○ wa doko desu ka

○○ はどこですか

Where is the ○○

To ask ‘where is the ○○?’ in Japanese, you can say ○○ wa doko desu ka (○○はどこですか). Doko means ‘where’, desu is a polite sentence marker and ka is a question marker.

Example:

Toire wa doko desu ka?
トイレはどこですか
といれはどこですか
Where is the toilet?

Eki wa doko desu ka?
駅はどこですか
えきはどこですか
Where is the train station?

○○ ni ikitai desu

○○ に行きたいです

I want to go to ○○

(Name of place) ni ikitai desu is how you express ‘I want to go to…’ in Japanese.

After asking for directions, here are some instructions you can expect:

English	Kanji	Katakana	Romaji
Go straight ahead	真っ直ぐ行って	まっすぐいって	Massugu ni itte
Turn right	右に向かって	みぎにむかって	Migi ni mukatte
Turn left	左に向かって	ひだりにむかって	Hidari ni mukatte

Store / restaurant phrases in Japanese

The very first thing you will notice when you enter a store or restaurant in Japan, is that the workers will shout irasshaimase (いらっしゃいませ)! This is a polite welcome phrase that workers use when customers enter into an establishment.

The next thing you may notice is that being a foreigner or tourist in Japan, shop staff may attempt to speak with you in English. They are probably trying to make the experience easier for you, but if you want to try your hand in Japanese they will be happy to listen and help!

Oftentimes, shop staff will hurl a bunch of questions at you at the checkout. It is just protocol for them, but for a tourist it can be a tad overwhelming. So, it’s not a bad idea to prepare yourself for the possible questions they may ask!

Common Questions

Pointo kaado wa o mochi desu ka

ポイントカードは持ちですか

Do you have a point card?

In most likelihood as a tourist, you won’t have a pointo kaado, or ‘point card’. In that case you can say iie, motteimasen (いいえ、持っていません) meaning ‘no, I don’t have one’.

Atatamemasu ka

温めますか

Shall I heat it up?

If you are buying ready meals or perhaps some kind of bread, the staff will ask you if you want to heat it up!

For any yes/no question they ask you can remember these answers:

English	Kanji	Katakana	Romaji
Yes, please	はい、お願いします	はい、おねがいします	hai, onegai shimasu
No / It’s okay	いいえ / 大丈夫です	いいえ / だいじょうぶです	iie / daijoubu desu

Fukuro wa irimasu ka

袋は入りますか

Do you need a bag?

Recently, Japan has begun charging for single use plastic bags. It only costs a few cents but in my opinion it’s a good change! Before this, the cashier would give you a plastic bag without fail, whether you needed it or not — even for a singular pack of gum!

Reshiito wa yoroshii desu ka

レシートはよろしいですか

Would you like the receipt?

At the end of the transaction, they may ask if you want the ‘receipt’ or reshiito. Since the word for receipt is borrowed from English, it’s easy enough to figure out what they are asking you!

Phrases for you to use

Kurejitto kaado wo tsukaemsasu ka

クレジットカードを使えますか

Can I use a credit card?

Fortunately these days, many establishments accept credit card or even mobile payment! It was not as common before, and smaller, more local businesses may still be cash only — so be sure to ask beforehand.

To do this you can ask kurejitto kaado wo tsukaemasu ka (クレジットカードを使えますか / くれじっとかーどをつかえますか).

Hitori / futari / ○○ nin desu

一人 / 二人 / ○○ 人です

Table for one / two / three

If you go to a restaurant, after the initial welcome phrase, the staff will then ask you nan mei sama desu ka? (何名様ですか / なんめいさまですか), meaning ‘table for how many?’.

Counting in Japanese can be a bit complicated. The counter term differs depending on whether you are counting people, animals, small or big objects… But don’t worry about all that just yet — let’s focus on counting people!

The kanji for ‘person’ is 人. Used on its own, it is pronounced as hito (ひと). However, as you can see in the table below, when used in a kanji compound, it is pronounced as nin (にん).

English	Kanji	Katakana	Romaji
One person	一人	ひとり	hitori
Two people	二人	ふたり	futari
Three people	三人	さんにん	sannin
Four people	四人	よにん	yonin
Five people	五人	ごにん	gonin
Six people	六人	ろくにん	rokunin
Seven people	七人	ななにん	nananin
Eight people	八人	はちにん	hachinin
Nine people	九人	きゅうにん	kyuunin
Ten people	十人	じゅうにん	jyuunin

Simply state the number of people and add desu for politeness. The waiter will soon lead you to your table! If you find your mind going blank, you can use your fingers to indicate the number of people in your party.

○○ wo kudasai / wo onegaishimasu

○○ をください / をお願いします

Can I please have ○○

Now, you’re seated and ready to order! To make it easy, you can say the ‘dish + amount + please’. You can say please in Japanese in two ways: kudasai (ください), or onegaishimasu (お願いします / おねがいします).

Example:

Ramen hitotsu kudasai
ラーメン一つください
らーめんひとつください
One ramen please

Biiru futatsu kudasai
ビール二つください
びーるふたつください
Two beers please

In these examples, we are saying the amount using a different type of counter in Japanese, the hitotsu system, a counter used for general objects.

It would also suffice to use hand signals and to point at the menu while saying kore kudasai / onegaishimasu, meaning ‘this please’.

O kaikei onegaishimasu

お会計お願いします

Can I please have the bill

When you are finished with your meal, you can grab a staff member’s attention by saying sumimasen which is ‘excuse me’. You can then request the bill by saying o kaikei onegaishimasu (お会計お願いします / おかいけいおねがいします).

A small Japanese restaurant with a chef preparing food behind the counter. Customers sit inside eating, and various signs, menus, and takeout boxes—featuring useful Japanese phrases for travelers—are visible at the front.

Emergency phrases

Hopefully you won’t need to make use of such phrases during your trip, but here are some essential terms just in case you find yourself in a sticky situation.

English	Kanji	Katakana	Romaji
Help me	助けてください	たすけてください	tasukete kudasai
Ambulance	救急車	きゅうきゅうしゃ	kyuukyuu sha
Hospital	病院	びよういん	byouin
Doctor	医者	いしゃ	isha
Police	警察	けいさつ	keisatsu
Police box	交番	こうばん	koban

Japanese phrases for travelers

We hope this post has covered all of the most basic Japanese phrases you will need on a trip to Japan!

If it’s given you a taste for the language, and you fancy learning a little more, our top recommended online Japanese course is JapanesePod101. It’s completely self paced and they even have a learning pathway specifically for traveling! Try it for free 🙂