Is はじめまして only suitable for the first contact?


When I'm contacting a colleague for the first time and we're communicating
online, [I can use はじめまして as part of my
greeting](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/8156/greeting-a-person-
over-the-internet/8158#8158). Likewise, if I'm meeting someone for the first
time and it is an in-person meeting, I can say はじめまして during my introduction.

However, if I talk with someone online and then we meet in person for the
first time, is はじめまして still appropriate? Or is there some other typical
greeting for this situation?




It doesn't matter. Feel it out based on your relationship with that person and
whatever feels right. I have to imagine that if you had contact with someone
before and you said 初めまして upon meeting them in person it would be accompanied
by that kind of weak laugh of shared awkwardness like "what do I say in this
situation?" In other words, meeting people from the internet is still a
relatively new phenomenon, and while I'm sure there must have been people who
had met by correspondence in the past, there is not some universally accepted
cultural norm for what to do in this situation. I think you can compare it
pretty directly to how the situation would play out in English.

So basically, I don't think there's a specifically Japanese way to do it. The
meeting will probably be awkward and fumbling for the first few moments
anyway. Personally I'd make a comment along the lines of "nice to finally meet
you in person," as I would in English, but that's just me. Just go for what
feels right.




It doesn't matter. Feel it out based on your relationship with that person and
whatever feels right. I have to imagine that if you had contact with someone
before and you said 初めまして upon meeting them in person it would be accompanied
by that kind of weak laugh of shared awkwardness like "what do I say in this
situation?" In other words, meeting people from the internet is still a
relatively new phenomenon, and while I'm sure there must have been people who
had met by correspondence in the past, there is not some universally accepted
cultural norm for what to do in this situation. I think you can compare it
pretty directly to how the situation would play out in English.

So basically, I don't think there's a specifically Japanese way to do it. The
meeting will probably be awkward and fumbling for the first few moments
anyway. Personally I'd make a comment along the lines of "nice to finally meet
you in person," as I would in English, but that's just me. Just go for what
feels right.

