hello?

[Saiyan]

i know はじめまして is used as an equivalent to "hello, pleased to meet you" when you meet someone for the first time, but what do i use for saying hello to friends everyday? もしもし is reserved for telephones only?

[jp101crew]

i know はじめまして is used as an equivalent to "hello, pleased to meet you" when you meet someone for the first time, but what do i use for saying hello to friends everyday? もしもし is reserved for telephones only?

Hello

Yes, もしもし is used for phone calls only. If you see someone in the morning, you say おはよう(casual)　or おはようございます(polite), which both mean good morning.
If it's during the day you say こんにちは which means hello, or hi. Strangely, you don't really say this to your casual friends....or we don't really say anything.....except some voices like お～。or よっ。for casual friends greeting.
In the evening we say こんばんは。which is good evening. In this case also, we don't say this really to a casual friend.

Hope this helped abit!
Hiroko

[jaypunkrawk]

Can you not use おはよう with your friends in the afternoon and evening? I wasn't aware of that. Good info!

[Saiyan]

おはよ means only "good morning" so you can't use it at other times than morning, isn't it?

[mattacis]

Also as a note, おはよ is often used when seeing someone for the first time in a given day, even if that mean at night. For example, you are working a nightshift at a bar In Japan, and you see you collegue, you can greet them おはよ, especially if you only arose a short while beforehand

[Javizy]

There is やあ as well, but I've only heard that on the phone as well.

[jaypunkrawk]

It's my understanding that おはようございます is good morning. おはよう, as stated, can be used throughout the day.