{"id":26946,"date":"2022-09-17T05:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T05:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/?p=26946"},"modified":"2025-07-29T11:50:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T02:50:45","slug":"business-japanese-phrases-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/blog\/business-japanese-phrases-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"The top 5 business Japanese phrases you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Business Japanese is on a whole other level in terms of formality, but it is essential to master if you ever plan to work in Japan. Your grasp of formal Japanese language, business etiquette, and adherence to unspoken norms will make or break your success in the Japanese workplace. Knowing some essential business Japanese phrases is a great start, so we\u2019ve put together our list of top essential phrases to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of important business Japanese phrases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Osewa ni narimasu<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u304a\u4e16\u8a71\u306b\u306a\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3002
Osewa ni narimasu. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

OR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u304a\u4e16\u8a71\u306b\u306a\u3063\u3066\u304a\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3002
Osewa ni natte orimasu.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commonly-used phrase has a meaning along the lines of, \u201cthank you for your support, kindness, work, etc\u201d. You use it to show appreciation for someone\u2019s continued work or service, or future work or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSewa\u201d, \u4e16\u8a71 means \u201ccare\u201d and \u201csewa ni naru\u201d, \u4e16\u8a71\u306b\u306a\u308b means \u201cto be taken care of\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You use it on the phone or in person when talking to customers, clients, and business contacts and you always say it after the initial greeting before beginning your conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u3082\u3057\u3082\u3057\u304a\u4e16\u8a71\u306b\u306a\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3001\u30a2\u30f3\u30ca\u3067\u3059\u3002
Moshimoshi osewa ni narimasu, Anna desu.
<\/i>Hello it\u2019s Anna, thank you for your work\/service\/taking care of me. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to be extra polite, you can say \u201cOsewa ni natte orimasu\u201d. This means the same thing, it\u2019s just even more polite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Four<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Otsukaresama desu<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u304a\u75b2\u308c\u69d8\u3067\u3059\u3002
Otsukaresama desu.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

OR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u304a\u75b2\u308c\u69d8\u3067\u3057\u305f\u3002
Otsukaresama deshita.
<\/i>(Past tense)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This phrase is used extremely often and its meaning is akin to, \u201cThank you for your hard work\u201d. For example, you say it to your colleagues at the end of a project, or after each shift to acknowledge their work and how tired they must be (\u75b2 is the kanji for tiredness or fatigue).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if your co-worker gets up to go home, they would say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u304a\u5148\u306b\u5931\u793c\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002
Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu.
<\/i>Excuse me for leaving before you.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then you would reply with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u304a\u75b2\u308c\u69d8\u3067\u3057\u305f\u3002
Otsukaresama deshita.*
<\/i>Thank you for your hard work.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/b>You would use the past tense here because the other person has finished working for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can say \u201cOtsukaresama desu\u201d to your colleagues during the day in place of a greeting like konnichiwa<\/i>, \u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f. Here, you speak in present tense since they are continuing to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u304a\u5148\u306b\u5931\u793c\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002
Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned above, this phrase is commonly used when colleagues are about to leave the office to go home. It\u2019s considered rude to leave a workplace without saying this, unless you are the very last person left, as it is said in order to address the fact that you are going home while your colleagues are still working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOsaki ni, \u304a\u5148\u306b\u201d means \u201cahead\u201d while \u201cshitsurei shimasu, \u5931\u793c\u3057\u307e\u3059\u201d means \u201cexcuse me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Ch\u014ddai itashimasu<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u9802\u6234\u3044\u305f\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002
Ch\u014ddai itashimasu.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is said in response to receiving something and it means, \u201cI humbly receive\u201d. A common situation where you would use this is when exchanging business cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After saying your name and presenting your business card, you would then take the other person\u2019s card and say: \u201cCh\u014ddai itashimasu<\/i>\u201d. It is frequently followed by \u201cyoroshiku onegai itashimasu<\/i> \u3088\u308d\u3057\u304f\u304a\u9858\u3044\u81f4\u3057\u307e\u3059\u201d, meaning \u201cplease look after me\u201d. Read more about how to use the phrase \u201cyoroshiku onegaishimasu\u201d in our article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verb \u201cch\u014ddai, \u9802\u6234\u201d means \u201creceiving\u201d in formal Japanese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Sh\u014dchi shimashita<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u627f\u77e5\u3057\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002
Sh\u014dchi shimashita.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the polite way to say, \u201cOkay, got it\u201d to express that you have understood something. Normally you would say ry\u014dkai desu<\/i> \u4e86\u89e3\u3067\u3059 to your colleagues, however \u201cSh\u014dchi shimashita\u201d is better when responding to bosses, and clients and when writing emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verb \u201csh\u014dchi, \u627f\u77e5\u201d means \u201cknowledge\u201d or \u201cawareness\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vanliga<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is so much more to learn when it comes to business Japanese and understanding business culture in Japan. Developing good work relationships and succeeding in a Japanese company requires dedication and hard work. But start with these 5 business Japanese phrases and you\u2019ve got a good foundation to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you wish to read more about keigo, or formal Japanese, read our article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in learning more business Japanese? Sign up for our comprehensive online Business Japanese course, taught by the Intercultural Institute of Japan, here<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business Japanese is on a whole other level in terms of formality, but it is essential to master if you ever plan to work in Japan. Your grasp of formal Japanese language, business etiquette, and adherence to unspoken norms will make or break your success in the Japanese workplace. Knowing some essential business Japanese phrases […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":25963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[404],"tags":[698,666,675],"class_list":["post-26946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learn-japanese","tag-japanese-lessons","tag-language","tag-online-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26946"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186144,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26946\/revisions\/186144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}