# 12 Essential Japanese Greetings: From 'Ohayō' to 'Okaerinasai'
> Discover the top 12 Japanese greetings to enhance your language skills. Learn these essential phrases now and start speaking like a local.
**URL:** https://migaku.com/blog/japanese/top-12-greetings-in-japanese
**Last Updated:** 2025-08-14
**Tags:** vocabulary, fundamentals, phrases
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Greetings are an important aspect of any language and are used to acknowledge someone's presence, initiate communication, or show respect and friendliness. They are a fundamental aspect of social interaction and can vary widely across different cultures and contexts. Japanese, in particular, has its own set of greetings that you should be familiar with for smooth communication.
If you want to [learn Japanese](/learn-japanese), then, this is a good place to start.
Here's a few greetings you'll hear all the time:
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## おはようございます (Ohayōgozaimasu) — Good morning
**Meaning:** Good morning
**Usage:** From sunrise to noon
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** Often shortened to おはよう in casual settings
The morning greeting, おはようございます, is believed to have originated from Kabuki theater. Kabuki actors, needing ample time for preparation, would arrive and start getting ready well before the performance started. In turn, backstage and lower-ranked staff would use the phrase , which means "You have arrived early," as a form of encouragement. Over time, this phrase evolved into its current form.
> In addition to おはよう (ohayō), there is also the greeting おそよう (osoyō), which has a sarcastic connotation. The origin of おはよう stems from the word (hayau), meaning "early", while おそよう is derived from (osoi), meaning "late." Thus, it can be used as a sarcastic greeting for someone who arrives late in the morning.
## こんにちは (Konnichiwa) — Good day
**Meaning:** Good day
**When to use:** From noon to right before sunset
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** -
A long time ago, greetings like (How are you today?) and (Nice weather today, isn't it?) have been used. However, in the Meiji era, textbooks omitted the part of the greeting following and instead wrote こんにちは, which became widely adopted.
While in writing こんにちわ is occasionally used by some people as well, knowing its origin tells us that こんにちは is the correct form.
## こんばんは (Kombanwa) — Good evening
**Meaning:** Good evening
**When to use:** From sunset to right before sunrise
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** -
こんばんは originally included additional words, similar to こんにちは. However, these words were eventually omitted, resulting in the simplified form こんばんは.
## おやすみなさい (Oyasuminasai) — Good night
**Meaning:** Good night
**When to use:** Before someone goes to bed
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** Often shortened to おやすみ in casual speech
おやすみなさい is used when another person is about to go to bed, to wish them a good night. Since it seems that it is constructed from the word (yasumu), meaning "to rest", and the command form なさい (nasai), some people may find this phrase odd, as it seems like you are giving an order to someone.
This good night phrase is thought to come from , originally meaning "Please have a restful sleep," which was used by innkeepers. Eventually, it evolved into the abbreviated form おやすみなさい we know today.
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## はじめまして (Hajimemashite) — Nice to meet you
**Meaning:** Nice to meet you
**When to use:** When meeting someone for the first time
**Kanji form:** ;
**Note:** -
is a greeting that is used when meeting someone for the first time. It's believed to be a shortened version of phrases like (Nice to meet you for the first time), which simply acknowledges the first encounter.
Interestingly, this greeting ends with the conjunctive て-form, which indicates the continuation of an action, thus hinting that further words will follow. In practice, it's often followed by self-introductions such as (Nice to meet you, I'm Takahashi).
## よろしくおねがいします (Yoroshiku onegaishimasu) — (No exact translation)
**Meaning:** Please remember me; please treat me well
**When to use:** (See discussion below)
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** Sometimes shortened to よろしく in casual settings, or よろ if you want to be really casual
can be broken down into two parts: よろしく and .
- The latter part, , is a common phrase used when making a request, similar to "please" in English.
- As for the former part, よろしく, it's an older Japanese term that conveys a meaning like "suitably" or "properly".
could be directly translated to something like "Please do properly". However, as is typical for Japanese, it is a rather vague expression that leaves the action open to interpretation. Putting the phrase together, you can think of the translation as "Please do what you think is appropriate within your capabilities." This vague approach is helpful because it makes an outright refusal less likely and improves the flow of the conversation.
> Despite often being associated with a greeting when first meeting someone, has a much broader usage than that. Here are some of the most common ones.
### As "Nice to meet you" in a self-introduction
When introducing oneself for the first time, after stating one's name, place of origin, occupation, etc., one says at the end. In this context, it is equivalent to "Nice to meet you" in English.
### When starting a meeting or interview
After the facilitator gives the opening remarks, they say . In this context, it carries the meaning similar to "Shall we begin" or "Let's get started" in English. It's common for participants to respond by saying in return.
### When expressing gratitude
As mentioned earlier, doesn't necessarily specify requests, but it _can_ be used for making them.
(I kindly ask for your confirmation.)
Adding よろしく when making a request can soften it, conveying the sentiment of "I would like to request."
### Used at the end of an email
While it's rarely used between friends, in business settings, is typically written at the end of emails. This usage is similar to "Best regards" or "Yours truly" in English.
is used in various other situations as well. For example, when confessing feelings or proposing to someone, they might respond with as a way of saying "OK".
As you can see, due to its various usages, is one of those expressions that is better learned through getting copious amounts of exposure to the language.
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## いただきます (Itadakimasu) — (Say before eating a meal)
**Meaning:** Thank you (for the meal just served)
**When to use:** Before starting to eat
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** -
いただきます comes from the word いただく (itadaku). いただく originally referred to the act of raising something over ones head when consuming an offering in honor of the gods, or when receiving something from someone of higher status.
From this, it came to be used as an honorific expression for "eating" or "receiving".
Eventually, いただきます established itself as a customary pre-meal greeting.
> いただきます expresses gratitude in two ways.
>
> The first is gratitude towards those that were involved in preparing the meal, serving it, growing the vegetables, catching the fish, and any others who contributed to it.
>
> The second is gratitude towards the ingredients. Not only for animals who gave their life, but also for vegetables and fruits, as it is believed that they also have life force.
## ごちそうさま (Gochisōsama) — (Say after eating a meal)
**Meaning:** Thank you for the meal
**When to use:** After finishing a meal
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** Sometimes shortened to just ごち in very informal situations
In the past, before refrigerators and supermarkets existed as they do now, gathering ingredients was a challenging task. (chisō) originally meant to run around, depicting the effort put into preparing and serving a meal. By adding the polite prefix (go) and the honorific suffix (sama) to , it became ごちそうさま.
In modern times, various ingredients are easily accessible all around us. However, planning daily menus, shopping, and preparing meals still requires considerable effort. Therefore, ごちそうさま or ごちそうさまでした are used as expressions of gratitude and appreciation for the hard work.
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## いってらっしゃい (Itterasshai) — Roughly "take care"
**Meaning:** Have a good day; take care
**When to use:** Parting phrase directed at someone leaving
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** -
Originally いってらっしゃい was created by combining (iku), meaning "to go," and いらっしゃい (irasshai), meaning "to come," and creating a phrase that encompasses both.
いってらっしゃい carries the meaning of "Go and return safely," emphasizing a wish for the person to depart and return safely.
## いってきます (Ittekimasu) — roughly "I'm off"
**Meaning:** I'm off; see you later
**When to use:** Parting phrase used by the person leaving
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** -
combines (iku), meaning "to go", and (kaettekimasu), meaning "coming back." Therefore, it carries the meaning of "I'm leaving now, and I'll be back". In the past, traveling was often dangerous, so by saying いってきます, it was like making a vow to return without fail.
## ただいま (Tadaima) — I'm back!
**Meaning:** I'm home!; I'm back!
**When to use:** Said when one has returned or come home
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** -
ただいま is thought of as being a shortened form of (I have just returned).
(ima) on its own already expresses "now", while intensifies this meaning, signifying not just the present moment but also indicating very recent past events, such as "just now" or "a moment ago."
## おかえりなさい (Okaerinasai) — Welcome home
**Meaning:** Welcome home
**When to use:** Greeting said by the person already there towards someone coming home
**Kanji form:**
**Note:** Often shortened to おかえり
Originally, was expressed as (Welcome back, I'm glad you've returned safely), but it was shortened over time to the form we know today.
There is also a more polite form with .
## ... want to learn Japanese for real?
The first chapter of any textbook will start you off with greetings, and they're the start of every single conversation, so you'd be forgiven if you wanted to learn Japanese and decided that the best place to do that would be with greetings.
The thing is, you'd also be wrong.
When we dumped [every single word in Japanese Netflix into a spreadsheet](/blog/japanese/how-to-learn-japanese-vocabulary) and then organized them by frequency, we made two very practical discoveries:
1. To have an 80% chance of recognizing any word you see in any Japanese show, you only need to know about 1,500 words
2. Words like こんにちは aren't actually _that_ common
So, this data in our back pocket, we set out to build the most optimal Japanese course possible:
It's a flashcard-based course (backed by [spaced repetition](/blog/language-fun/spaced-repetition-language-learning), of course). Each flashcard includes one new word, and the example sentence that word appears in will help you reinforce an important sentence structure.
The course will take about 6 months to finish, at a pace of 10 words (~30 minutes) per day, and with this foundation under you, you'll be ready to start stumbling your way through _real_ Japanese content.
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## You can say hello in Japanese... but now what?
As you can see, greetings in Japanese are often not simply words, but constructs made with different grammar structures applied to them. Learning these grammar points can help you memorize specific greetings and make more sense of them.
This is a lot—we admit—but it's also not something you need to go out of your way and stress about. Behold the golden rule of language learning:
> If you consume media you enjoy in Japanese, and you understand some of the messages and sentences within that media, you will make progress. _Period_.
Good luck, friend