Japanese greetings

Following are several ways to greet a person in Japanese. The main greetings of good morning, good afternoon, and good evening are chosen based on the time of day. Here’s a brief rundown to get you started:

Good morning

The Japanese word for “good morning” is “ohayou”. The ending “gozaimasu” can be added for politeness, extending the phrase to “ohayou gozaimasu”. Pronounced: Oh-high-yoh go-zeye-ee-moss.

Hello / Good afternoon

For a more generic greeting meaning “hello”, the Japanese say “konnichiwa”. This is used in the late morning hours and through to the late afternoon. Pronounced: Kohn-nee-chee-wah.

Good evening

During the evening hours, the Japanese say, “konbanwa” which translates to “good evening” in English. Pronounced: Kohn-bahn-wah.

As you can see, choosing the proper Japanese greeting is as easy as determining the time of day. So the next time you travel to Japan, you’ll have no trouble greeting the Japanese people in their own language.