Language & Customs
The Japanese are an incredibly polite race, so it’s important to embrace this culture whilst in Japan. Of course it’s rude to push into lift queues in any country (except Austria!), but the politeness needs to extend to appropriate behaviour in the streets, restaurants and bars. “Please” and “thank you” are essentials words to learn in Japanese.
Thelanguage Whilst many people in Japan only speak Japanese, there commonlyseems to be someone who can speak enough English to get by, particularly in the larger resorts such as Niseko, Furano or Hakuba. Road signs commonly use the Western alphabet or roads are numbered, and shop fronts also commonly display signs in the Western alphabet, so it’s easy to find your way around in Japan.Many websites will cite that all Japanese people must study English at schooland therefore most Japanese can understand basic English, but this is not the case. Particularly in the more remote areas of Hokkaido, there are many places where English is not spoken or understood at all. In these areas it will beincredibly handy to carry a phase book, even if only to ensure that you don’t order eel for dinner. The Japanese love people who make an effort to communicate in their language and indulge in their culture. The following are some of ourfavourite phrases:
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English
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Japanese Phonetic Pronunciation
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Comments
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yes
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hai
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no
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iie
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thank you
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arigato
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THE most important word to learn
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thank you very much
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arigato gozaimas
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The 2nd most important phrase to learn
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you're welcome
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doitashi mashitay
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good morning
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o hi yo gozaimas
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Add the gozaimas to be extra polite
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good afternoon (or "hello")
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kon nee chee wa
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good evening
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kon ban wa
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good-bye
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sayonara
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please
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kudasai
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please (as in "go ahead" or “after you”
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dozo
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The towies will say this a lot to you
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excuse me
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sumimasen
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snow
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yuki
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I'm sorry
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Gomen nasai
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Cheers!
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Kanpai!
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You might use this one a few times!
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happy
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gen ki
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delicious
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oy shee
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great
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segoi
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fantastic
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subararshi
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wait a moment, please
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chotto matte kudasai
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where is the toilet?
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toilet wa doca desu ka?
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They’ll understand the Western word “toilet”
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Let’s go!
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ickie ma-shaw!
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A favourite for skiing
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Cold
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samui
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Plenty of opportunity to use this word
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The numbers are different depending upon the context. The use of “ichiban” (number one) is different to when ordering one beer – “biero hitotsu”. Numbers 1-4 are probably the most important to learn, as it’s too difficult to carry more than 4 beers anyway!
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Number in English
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Japanese Phonetic Pronunciation
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one
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hitotsu
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two
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futatsu
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three
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mittsu
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four
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yotsu
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