Language in Tokyo
Without a doubt one of the most complicated things to manage when visiting Japan is the language. The official language is Japanese, and is the only language spoken by the vast majority of the population.
If you're looking for someone who speaks English, you're likely to have more luck the younger the person is, although it's not guaranteed.
As difficult as the Japanese language is when spoken, it's even more difficult when written down. Japanese has three different alphabets, kanji, hiragana and katakana. Added to these three is Romaji, the Japanese language represented using the Latin alphabet.
Basic Japonese Expressions
Courtesy
- Hello
- Konnichiwa
- Goodbye
- Sayônara
- Good Morning
- Ohayô gozaimasu
- Good Evening
- Konnichiwa
- Good Night
- Konbanwa
- See you later
- Matta ne
- Please
- Douzo
- Thank you
- Arigato
- You're welcome
- Dô itashimashite
- Excuse Me
- Sumimasen
- Sorry
- Gomen nasai
- How are you?
- O genki desu ka?
- Very well, thankyou
- Totemo genki desu, arigatô
- Welcome
- Yookoso
Useful Words
- Yes
- Hai
- No
- No
Numbers
- One
- Ichi
- Two
- Ni
- Three
- San
- Four
- Yon/Shi
- Five
- Go
- Six
- Roku
- Seven
- Nana/Shichi
- Eight
- Hachi
- Nine
- Kyû/Ku
- Ten
- Jû
Useful Expressions in Restaurants:
- Water
- Mizu (水)
- Beer
- Biru