How do you say Hello in Japanese?

How do you say hello in Japanese? This is the first question I get from 90% of my clients.

The most common way to say hello in Japan is kon’nichi wa. which is like “good day” in English. However, there are different greetings for different times of day. And you never use it on the phone. Confused? Don’t worry. I’m going to teach you all the Japanese greetings. And if you’re overwhelmed, in the final section I’ll even narrow it down to the three phrases you absolutely must know.

Alright then, let’s get started!

Basic Japanese Greetings

how do you say hello in japanese?

Ohayō gozaimasu – good morning

o-hayō gozaimasu!
Good morning!

This is the first greeting of day. You’ll hear this everywhere in your hotel until you check out. When someone says o-hayō gozaimasu to you, the correct response is… well, o-hayō gozaimasu. It’s good manners to use this with hotel staff in the morning, but if you’re staying at a family-run ryokan (Japanese style inn), you absolutely must reply to the staff. So please learn this phrase!

Many native speakers slur this phrase, especially if they’ve been saying it all morning.

Pro-Tip: The final u is very slight. So, o-hayō gozaimas’ is closer to the native pronunciation.

how do you say hello in japanese?

Kon’nichi wa – hello, good afternoon

konnichi wa
Good afternoon!

Konnichi wa is the most common casual greeting in Japan. Since the bulk of your time exploring Japan will be in the afternoon, this is a really important one.

Note that I translated it as “good afternoon.” Some people say it’s “good day,” but native speakers never use it the morning – usually from lunch time until about 5 PM. That said, you’re just a tourist, so if you use it all day, nobody’s gonna get angry and correct you. They know you’re just trying to be friendly.

Many native speakers, especially men may slur this phrase until it sounds something like chiwa-a.

how do you say hello in japanese?

Konban wa – good evening

konban wa!
Good evening!

You can use konban wa from about 5 PM until bedtime.

Pro-Tip: Remember, this is a greeting – like “hello.” It’s never used for parting.

how do you say good night in japanese?

Oyasumi nasai – good night

o-yasumi nasai!
Good night!

Remember that konban wa is a greeting, so when saying goodbye in the evening, you should use o-yasumi nasai. You can even say this to strangers as they (or you) get off the elevator when it’s late at night.

If you trudge through the hotel late at night to pass out in your room, the lobby staff will probably say o-yasumi nasai as you leave the area or hop into the elevator.

Other Useful Japanese Greetings

how do you say hello in japanese?

Mata ne – see ya; later

mata ne!
See ya later!
Peace out.

Most people already know sayōnara as “goodbye” in Japanese. But, that’s rarely the word you’re looking for.

If you’ll see the person later (or if there’s even the slightest chance of seeing them later), you should use mata ne. It literally means “again, ok?” If you leave your Japanese tour guide on your lunch break, you can use this because you’ll seem them after eating.

Women and children may even say mata ne, bai bai! Which is mata ne plus “bye bye.” It sounds cute in Japanese.

how do you say goodbye in japanese?

Sayōnara – farewell; goodbye (for a long time, possibly forever)


Yes, the famous phrase sayōnara does mean “goodbye.” However, it means it in a really final way. If a couple breaks up, they say sayōnara. At a funeral, you say sayōnara to the deceased. See what I mean?

Most of the time, you should just say mata ne, or more properly arigatō gozaimasu. You can read more about arigatō gozaimasu in my article How do you say thank you in Japanese?

Japan This! Tours telephone chick

Moshi moshi – hello (telephone only)

moshi moshi
Can you hear me?

OK, if you’re taking phone calls in Japanese, then your proficiency is way beyond this lesson. But in order to be comprehensive, I have to include moshi moshi. If you get a call from the front desk, you can use use this. I can’t think of any other situation where a tourist would use moshi moshi, though.

Pro-Tip: The final i is very weak. Native speakers, especially men, stretch out the final o. So if you say it moshi mo-osh it sounds more natural. Keep your ears perked up in Japan, you’ll hear it soon!

How do you get COVID in Japan?
Oh, I forgot to mention! The Japanese NEVER shake hands.
You should bow when using these greetings.

Conclusion: The 3 Must Know Japanese Greetings!

Ohayō gozaimas’!Good morning!
Kon’nichi wa!Hello! Good afternoon!
(11:30 to dusk)
Mata ne!See ya!

I wanted to include all the Japanese greetings, so you can learn as much as you want. If you think you only have a limited amount of hard drive space in your head, then these three will serve you well as a tourist in Japan. A little Japanese goes a long way here, so using these greetings will definitely score you points during your adventures.

If you’d like to learn more Japanese Survival Phrases, I’m putting together an ongoing series. You can print these out to study during the long flight or when you have down time in your room. If you’d like future content delivered to your inbox, be sure to sign up for JapanThis.Tours!

2 thoughts on “How do you say Hello in Japanese?

  1. Mental note to self. Stop saying sayonara for good bye!!

    I really want to visit Japan, but I’m still in high school. I learned some vocabulary from animes and mangas.

    Can I ask a question. Why do you sometimes draw a line over the letter O?

    1. Hey man, that’s a great question. I’ve wanted to explain in this series, but I’m trying to keep things REALLY simple in each article.

      But I’m happy to answer your question.

      Think of each Japanese vowel like this:
      a → ah
      i → ee
      u → oo
      e → eh
      o → oh

      When you see that long mark over a vowel, you should say the sound twice. But don’t make a stop between each one. So, if it’s a long oh, don’t say oh-oh. Say the oh sound for a longer time than just oh.

      Does that make sense?

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