You step off the train, the station is a maze of signs, and a staff member in a crisp uniform looks up as you approach. A small, well-placed word changes the whole exchange. A handful of phrases (greetings, an apology, a question about where or how much) goes a long way, and they are easy to say because Japanese has only five basic vowels.
Which Japanese phrases help travelers?
The ones that help most are greetings, a way to get attention, a way to say you do not understand, and two questions: where something is and how much it costs. The Japan National Tourism Organization lists these among its basic phrases, and a dozen words are enough to get started.
Pronunciation is kinder than it looks. Japanese has five basic vowels, a, i, u, e and o, and each one keeps the same sound wherever it appears. One thing deserves care: the difference between short and long vowels. A phrasebook example shows shojo and shōjo meaning two quite different things, so give long vowels their full length.
Greetings for the day
Ohayo gozaimasu is good morning, Konnichiwa covers the afternoon, and Konbanwa is good evening. You can use them with a hotel clerk, a shopkeeper or a neighbor at a guesthouse breakfast table. A small nod alongside the words fits the habits of the place, and it is often all the reply you need.
Greeting first and asking second is a courteous order almost anywhere. If you walk into a small shop or a ticket window, the greeting opens the door for whatever comes next, even when the rest of the conversation is done with gestures or a phone.
Getting attention and asking the basics
Follow it with Doko desuka, where is it, and name what you are looking for: a station, a restroom, an exit. You can also point at a map or a name written on your phone while you say it.
Reading help: three scripts and a few shortcuts
Japanese people use three writing systems: hiragana, katakana and kanji. Of the three, katakana is the one travelers are advised to learn first, because it is used to write foreign words and loanwords, and it is also used for plant and animal names and for emphasis. A menu or a shop sign may suddenly become readable once you can sound out a few characters.
Kanji on station signs often come in abbreviated form. The Keisei Line takes its name from the first characters of Tokyo and Narita, the Keihan Line from Kyoto and Osaka, and the Suigun Line from Mito and Koriyama. Once you know the trick, a line name starts to tell you where it goes. The Kanpu Ferry, in the same spirit, links Shimonoseki and Busan in South Korea.
Tools and brochures
The Japan National Tourism Organization mentions VoiceTra, a free multilingual speech translation app made for travel conversations. It also offers tourist brochures in English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, French and Thai.
If a few phrases whet your appetite, the Japan Foundation runs JF Japanese e-Learning Minato, with many self-study courses, and Hirogaru, a website that builds Japanese learning around your interests. Standard Japanese, based on the Tokyo dialect, is taught in schools and understood throughout the country, so what you learn will carry from city to city.
How do you say thanks and excuse me?
Both are short and easy to say, and they cover most of the small moments of travel: squeezing past someone on a train platform, calling a waiter or admitting a mistake.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sumimasen | Excuse me, or a way to get someone’s attention |
| Gomen nasai | I am sorry |
| Wakarimasen | I don’t understand |
| Oishii | It’s delicious |
| Tanoshii | It’s fun, or it’s nice |
Sumimasen in daily life
Sumimasen is the phrase travelers end up using most. It works as a polite tap on the shoulder, so you can use it to call a server across a room, to ask a passerby for directions or to move through a crowd. Said with a slight bow, it suits a very wide range of situations.
Showing appreciation and enjoyment
Two words let you share how you feel. Oishii says it’s delicious, and it lands well at the end of a meal at a counter or a family-run place. Tanoshii says it’s fun or it’s nice, which suits a day out, a festival evening or a good conversation with a host.
Pairing a word with a smile does most of the work. Spoken Japanese also has politeness levels: teineigo is the polite form, with respectful sonkeigo and humble kenjogo above it for formal situations. As a visitor you are not expected to master them, and the plain polite phrases above are the right ones to start with.
When you are lost for words
Wakarimasen is the honest answer when a sentence goes over your head. After it, a translation app such as VoiceTra can carry the conversation, or you can show a written name on your phone and say Doko desuka. Most exchanges at a ticket window or a front desk can be resolved this way.
Counting is a small curiosity that helps in hotels. Japanese uses counter words for objects, and the counter for nights of a stay is haku or paku. Knowing that tells you what the number means when you hear it at check-in.
What do you say at a restaurant?
At a restaurant, the phrases that matter are Sumimasen to call the server, Ikura desuka if a price is unclear, and Oishii once the food arrives. These three carry a surprising amount of a meal, from the first order to the last bite.
Calling the server and ordering
Say Sumimasen and the staff will come to your table. It is the normal habit in many places rather than waiting to catch an eye. Once they arrive, pointing at a dish on the menu or a plastic food display works alongside whatever words you have.
Counting what you order uses the counter words. Two bottles of beer is biiru nihon: ni means two, and hon is the counter that goes with bottles. The word biiru is also a good example of katakana at work, since it is a loanword, and a menu full of katakana is often easier to read than you expect.
Asking about prices and what is where
Ikura desuka is useful at a market stall, a food counter or a small shop selling snacks to take away. For finding a restroom or a table in a crowded food hall, Doko desuka does the job, with a gesture to make the meaning clear.
If a reply comes in fast Japanese, Wakarimasen is a courteous way to say you did not follow. A friendly server will usually find another way, whether a gesture, a menu photo or a translation app.
Praising the meal
Oishii is the word that closes a good meal. Said to the cook at a counter or to the person who brought your plate, it is a simple compliment that is easy to pronounce, with its five clear vowels.
A note on reading menus: katakana is used for foreign words, so dishes with Western names often appear in it. Learning that one script is a good use of an hour for a traveler, and it can unlock more of a menu than you would guess.
Good to know before you go
Japanese is the national language of Japan, with around 123 million speakers, and it is spoken in Japan and almost nowhere else apart from long-established communities abroad, such as in Brazil, Peru, the United States and Taiwan. Practicing a few phrases before you leave is enough, and the free VoiceTra app and the Japan National Tourism Organization brochures in six languages are there for the rest. Learn the sound of the five vowels, keep long vowels long, and bring your curiosity about the signs.
Sources
- Japan National Tourism Organization, the language, English signage, phrases (https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/japanese-language/), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Japanese language (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikivoyage, Japanese phrasebook (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Japanese_phrasebook), checked October 11, 2026
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Japan: Cherry Blossoms, Autumn Colors, Weather and Festivals
- Where to Stay in Japan: Ryokan, Temple Stays, Capsule Hotels and the Best Cities to Base In
- Sending Luggage from the Airport in Japan: Hands-Free Travel, Hotel Delivery and Coin Lockers
- Know Before You Go to Japan: Entry, Money, Etiquette and Getting Around