How do you say "hello" properly in Kyoto?


Rosetta Stone, which I use for learning, uses _konnichiwa_ (こんにちは?) as a
generic "hello". But when visiting Kyoto and places around there, I have never
heard anyone actually saying it, not even a single time. Do they use another
standard phrase instead? I would like to use a natural phrase to initiate
conversation with strangers, for reasons like asking for directions and such.




Perhaps you have to give up on the idea that "there should be a perfect
equivalent of _hello_ in Japanese (or in Kyoto)". Different languages have
different sets of greetings. Some common phrases like いってきます and よろしくおねがいします
are difficult to translate to English.

Where you expected _hello_ , you might have heard いらっしゃいませ, どうも, もしもし, すみません
or おつかれさまです instead. None of them are perfect equivalents of _hello_ , but
used in various situations where _hello_ can be used in English. Indeed,
tourists are not likely to hear こんにちは, which is mainly used at school and
workplaces. In your case, the phrase you need to stop a total stranger on the
street is すみません, which is closer to _excuse me_.




Perhaps you have to give up on the idea that "there should be a perfect
equivalent of _hello_ in Japanese (or in Kyoto)". Different languages have
different sets of greetings. Some common phrases like いってきます and よろしくおねがいします
are difficult to translate to English.

Where you expected _hello_ , you might have heard いらっしゃいませ, どうも, もしもし, すみません
or おつかれさまです instead. None of them are perfect equivalents of _hello_ , but
used in various situations where _hello_ can be used in English. Indeed,
tourists are not likely to hear こんにちは, which is mainly used at school and
workplaces. In your case, the phrase you need to stop a total stranger on the
street is すみません, which is closer to _excuse me_.

