If you are in Japan for business or travel, or meeting you Japanese friend’s family in your own country, we are sure you would love to impress your Japanese hosts with your Japanese language skills.
You want to introduce yourself, say hello and learn how to say nice to meet you in Japanese. But you have heard that it is difficult and a mistake can cause great confusion or trouble.
Don’t worry! Here we bring you some useful tips for that successful first meeting for all Japanese beginners. You’ll learn formal and informal Japanese phrases in this blog post.
Discover the list of Top 10 Lines to Introduce Yourself in Japanese
1. My name is [name].
こんにちは。わたしは [name]です。
Konnichi wa. Watashi wa [name] desu.
“Hello. My name is [name].”
Example:
こんにちは。わたしは ひろこ です。
Konnichi wa. Watashi wa hiroko desu.
“Hello. My name is Hiroko.”
- こんにちは (Konnichi wa) is the Japanese equivalent of “Hello” and can be used at any time of day.
- わたし (Watashi) is a polite way for males or females to say “I” or “me.”
- は (wa) is a particle that follows the topic you are going to be talking about. The English meaning would be like “to be”, but not exactly the same.
- です (desu) is called a copula, and refers to one type of “to be” verb.
2. Nice to meet you.
Just as important, remember to say:
はじめまして。
Hajimemashite.
“Nice to meet you.”
or the unique expression:
どうぞ よろしくお願いします。
Dozo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
This roughly translates to “Please treat me well.”
You can also say “よろしくお願いします。(yoroshiku onegaishimasu.)” only, without どうぞ (dozo) at the beginning.
or formal and polite expressions:
お会いできてうれしいです。
O-ai dekite ureshī desu.
“I’m happy to meet you.”
お目にかかれて嬉しいです。
O-me ni kakarete ureshī desu.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
お目にかかれて光栄です。
O-me ni kakarete kōei desu.
“It’s an honour to be seen by you.” or “It is an honor to meet you.”
お目にかかる (O-me ni kakaru) is the humble form of 会う (Au; meet).
Using this kind of phrase shows respect for the person and also that you are looking forward to a good relationship with them. This little Japanese is sure to make a great impression! That’s why you need to learn common Japanese words and phrases. If you’re not familiar with Japanese words yet, look them up in the Japanese dictionary.
Example:
初めまして。どうぞお入り下さい。
はじめまして。どうぞおはいりください。
Hajimemashite. Dōzo o-iri kudasai.
“Please come in, it’s nice to meet you.”
初めまして、ピーター。私の名前はリチャードです。
はじめまして、ピーター。わたしのなまえはリチャードです。
Hajimemashite, pītā. Watashinonamaeha richādodesu.
“Hello Peter, my name is Richard and it is nice to meet you.”
初めまして。
はじめまして。
Hajimemashite.
“Nice to meet you, sir.”
Keep in mind that in Japanese, we give our full names by saying first the last name and then the first name. So, take the person’s last name and better attach the suffix san (さん), and now you can greet people politely in Japanese! Click here if you want to know which Japanese suffix apply to which person and how to use them all: San, Chan, Kun, Sama…
You will surprise everyone with your Japanese skills and politeness. Now people will be pleased to meet you and your efforts won’t go unappreciated!
If you want to learn Japanese with our fun and effective Japanese lessons, please visit JapanesePod101! And check out our Japanese Word of the Day to improve your vocabulary every day!
