The 20 Most Important Japanese Survival Phrases for Travelers
Updated: February 26, 2026 | Reading Time: 8 minutes
Japan can be a bit disorienting for first-time visitors new to Japanese culture and language. Many travelers to Japan work tirelessly coordinating their transportation schedules, finding hotels with the perfect onsen, or cramming extra museum and shopping visits into their hectic schedules. But what happens when you are standing in front of a Japanese staff member speaking quickly, or when the menus don't have pictures? English is more common in Tokyo than you might expect, but step outside the main tourist areas, and you'll feel the gap. Read on to learn real Japanese words you can use every day of your trip: at the convenience store, on the platform, at the ramen counter. Learn these before you go, and turn awkward interactions into slightly less, but still awkward interactions.
On This Page
1. Why Learn Basic Japanese Phrases?2. The Absolute Basics: Greetings3. Politeness & Courtesy: The Most Important Phrases4. Shopping & Dining5. Navigating & Getting Around6. Helpful Extras & Emergencies7. Beyond Phrases: How to Continue Learning8. Frequently Asked Questions1. Why Learn Basic Japanese Phrases?
Most Japanese people you'll encounter as a tourist are genuinely patient — but there's a noticeable difference between a visitor who memorized a few words and one who didn't bother. Nobody expects fluency. A fumbled sumimasen while you're blocking the ticket gate is still way better than a blank stare and a shrug.
These 20 phrases cover the situations that come up on basically every trip: ordering food, asking for directions, paying, and bowing out of conversations that have moved well past your comprehension level. They won't make you fluent, but they'll make you a noticeably less confused tourist.
2. The Absolute Basics: Greetings
Start here. Greetings are low-stakes and easy to practice — and walking into a small shop with a konnichiwa instead of silently reaching past people sets a completely different tone for whatever comes next.
- こんにちはKonnichiwaHello / Good afternoon
Your everyday hello. Safe to use from late morning through early evening — roughly the hours you'll actually be out sightseeing.
- おはようございますOhayou GozaimasuGood morning
Use this until around 10:30 AM — so yes, it's what you'll want when you stagger down to the hotel breakfast. Drop the gozaimasu with friends or people you've gotten comfortable with.
- こんばんはKombanwaGood evening
Switch to this after sunset — which in Japan's cities means you'll be using it a lot, given how late most of the good food spots stay open.
- はい / いいえHai / IieYes / No
About as basic as it gets — but worth knowing that hai doesn't always mean yes in the Western sense. It can also just mean "I hear you" or "go on." Don't be surprised if someone says hai hai hai quickly and keeps walking. Conveniently, many transactional interactions at hotels, restaurants, or museums can be moved along by simply saying "Hai" when the staff member stops speaking and is waiting for you to do something.
Should You Learn Hiragana and Katakana Before Your Trip?
Katakana is the one worth prioritizing if you've only got a week before your flight. It's used for foreign loanwords — which means a surprising chunk of menu vocabulary suddenly becomes readable. ビール (bīru) is beer. コーヒー (kōhī) is coffee. You get the idea. Both scripts are 46 characters each, and most people can work through them in a week of regular practice.
If you decide to learn them, look for a tool that gives you:
- Native audio: Hear how each character actually sounds — the romanized spellings can be misleading
- Focused drills: Practice specific rows rather than throwing all 46 at you at once
- Speed training: Timed recognition is what builds the automatic reading you need in a restaurant
- Progress tracking: So you know which characters are still tripping you up
Our Kana Challenge is built specifically for this — interactive quizzes with real-time pronunciation feedback. See also our full kana learning guide if you want a more structured approach.
3. Politeness & Courtesy: The Most Important Phrases
If you're only going to learn one section before you board the plane, make it this one. Two or three of these phrases will cover an almost embarrassing percentage of your daily interactions in Japan.
- ありがとうございますArigatou GozaimasuThank you (formal)
Use it constantly — after meals, when a clerk hands back your change, when someone steps aside to let you pass. As a foreign visitor, you essentially cannot overdo this one.
- すみませんSumimasenExcuse me / Sorry / Thank you
The single most useful word in this entire list. It does the job of three different English phrases, which means you can fall back on it in almost any slightly awkward moment. See the box below.
- お願いしますOnegaishimasuPlease (when requesting)
Think of it as the polite "please" you tack on to a request. Point at a menu item and add onegaishimasu — that's a complete order. Works anywhere you're asking someone to do something for you.
- ごめんなさいGomen nasaiI'm sorry
This is a genuine apology — heavier than sumimasen. Save it for situations where you actually caused a problem, like knocking over someone's drink or stepping on a foot. For a bump on a crowded train, sumimasen is fine.
Why Sumimasen Is Worth Memorizing First
One word, three jobs — which is exactly what you want when you're tired, jet-lagged, and standing in a busy izakaya trying to get someone's attention:
- Getting attention: Raise your hand, make eye contact, say sumimasen. This is how you flag down a waiter or get a shop assistant to notice you without just standing there looking helpless.
- Apologizing: Bumped into someone on a packed train? A quick sumimasen and you're done — no long explanations needed.
- Mild thanks: When someone goes slightly out of their way for you — holding open a door, giving directions — sumimasen covers that polite "sorry to trouble you" feeling, often followed by arigatou.
4. Shopping & Dining
Here's something that will make your life easier: most Japanese restaurants have either photo menus, plastic food displays out front, or both. You can get pretty far on pointing alone. Add these phrases and you're actually set.
- これをくださいKore o kudasaiThis one, please
Point at what you want — on the menu, in the display case, on someone else's table — and say this. That's it. That's the whole ordering process for 80% of your meals.
- いくらですか？Ikura desu ka?How much is it?
Handy in markets or smaller shops where prices aren't displayed. Most staff will just show you the number on a calculator or their phone — so even if the verbal response is fast, you'll see the answer.
- お会計をお願いしますO-kaikei o onegaishimasuThe check, please
At izakayas and many sit-down restaurants, the bill doesn't come automatically — you have to ask. You can also cross your index fingers into an X shape, which everyone will understand. Both methods work; knowing at least one saves you from sitting there wondering if you've been forgotten.
- おいしいですOishii desuIt's delicious
Say this at the end of a meal and watch the reaction. Chefs and staff in small restaurants genuinely appreciate it — don't skip it.
- ごちそうさまでしたGochisousama deshitaThank you for the meal
Said as you're leaving a restaurant, this is a set expression of thanks for the meal — not just the food, but the effort of preparing it. It sounds formal, but it's completely normal to say even in a tiny ramen shop. Most travelers skip it; most Japanese diners don't.
6. Helpful Extras & Emergencies
These are for when things go sideways — which they will, at least occasionally. Someone responds to your question with a full paragraph of Japanese. A shop assistant starts explaining something you can't follow. You need an exit strategy, and these phrases are it.
- わかりませんWakarimasenI don't understand
When someone responds to your question in rapid-fire Japanese and you've lost the thread completely. Saying this honestly is much better than nodding along and hoping for the best — which is how travelers end up on the wrong train.
- 英語を話せますか？Eigo o hanasemasu ka?Do you speak English?
Worth asking before you barrel into English. In tourist-heavy areas, there's often someone nearby who can help. A more casual version that also works: Eigo, daijoubu? (Is English okay?)
- もう一度お願いしますMou ichido onegaishimasuOne more time, please
For when you almost caught that — you got most of it, but need one more pass. Most people will slow down when you ask. Combine with yukkuri (slowly) if you need them to really dial it back: mou ichido, yukkuri onegaishimasu.
- 大丈夫ですDaijoubu desuIt's okay / I'm fine / No, thank you
A surprisingly useful all-rounder. Does triple duty as "I'm fine," "it's okay," and a polite no-thank-you. When a convenience store clerk asks if you want a bag and you don't, daijoubu desu handles it cleanly.
7. Beyond Phrases: How to Continue Learning
Here's the honest limitation of a phrase list: you can learn to say things, but if you can't understand the reply, you're still going to hit a wall. Ask someone doko desu ka? and you might get a full paragraph of directions back. Smile, say wakarimasen, and open Google Maps.
If you want to actually understand more of what's being said to you — not just recite back phrases — the gap is listening comprehension, and the only way to build it is regular exposure to spoken Japanese. Reading along while listening is one of the more efficient ways to do that, because your brain is connecting sounds to meaning at the same time instead of treating them as separate tasks.
What Makes a Reading Tool Actually Useful
A lot of Japanese learning apps are built around repetitive drills that get boring fast. If you're going to spend time on this before a trip, look for something that keeps the material fresh:
- New content regularly: Drilling the same twenty sentences doesn't build vocabulary. Real articles with rotating topics do.
- Tap-to-look-up: Stopping to switch apps and search a word kills momentum. Inline lookups keep you reading instead of context-switching.
- Audio playback: Hearing the words as you read them is how you start to internalize pronunciation and train your ear at the same time.
YoMoo is designed around exactly these features — daily Japanese articles with text-to-speech audio and instant word lookups, practical in even 10-15 minute sessions. Also worth reading: how immersive reading works and building vocabulary through context.
The Short Version
You're not going to become fluent before your trip — and you don't need to be. Knowing arigatou gozaimasu and sumimasen cold will already put you ahead of most foreign visitors. Add a handful of the phrases above, and you'll handle the day-to-day with a lot less fumbling. Still awkward at times? Probably. But noticeably less so.
Explore the "Essential Phrases" Series
These phrases cover general situations, but trains, hotels, and restaurants each come with their own vocabulary that's worth knowing before you're standing in a ticket queue trying to figure out what to say. Here's where to go next:
