Greeting for meeting a friend by chance


How can I greet a person in a manner similar to "Nice to find you in here!" (—
meaning meeting a friend by chance somewhere)?




The most common one is

> 奇遇ですね。  
>  'It's coincidental (as if it were planned).'

but it does not particularly mean you feel nice about it (nor does it mean it
is bad). If you want to express that, you can just add the direct translation:

> またお会いできてよかったです。  
>  'I am happy to meet with you again.




There might be a lot more ways to say that, but I’ll try to offer more general
examples. The following lines would be said with a wide smile.

> あら、こんにちは（or どうも）！ (Female speakers would say to their friends.)
>
> よ、どうも（or こんにちは）！ (Male speakers would say to their friends.)

In my opinion, Japanese people don’t say a counterpart to “nice” because they
express it with their smile. They don’t bother to say it. 「あら」and「よ」are said
to draw an attention. (They might express a pleasant surprise.)

I’m not sure how often speakers like こんにちは or どうも, but as far as my family is
concerned, my husband, 40s, don’t like long words. I like longer words, for
some reason. (It may depend on speakers’ sex, but I don’t know for sure.)

Well, just for your information, what about meeting superiors?

I would say

> あら（or どうも）、こんにちは！

My husband will probably say

> どうも、こんにちは！

The above lines would be said with a wide smile and a bow. I personally think
どうも adds a little polite tone to the line. I feel this どうも is different from
the どうも in 「よ、どうも」which seems simply to mean “hello”in a friendly way.

