Tokyo Language Basics

How much Japanese you actually need

Here's the reassuring truth first: you can have a wonderful Tokyo trip with essentially no Japanese. Major station signage, train announcements and a great many menus carry English, ticket machines and locker screens switch to English, and Tokyo is well practised at welcoming visitors who don't speak the language. So treat this page not as a cramming list but as a small kit of phrases that make interactions warmer, smoother and more fun — and a set of tools (apps, pointing, pictures) for the moments words run out.

A little goes a long way emotionally, too. A genuine konnichiwa こんにちは ('hello / good afternoon') and arigatō gozaimasu ありがとうございます ('thank you' — polite form) are met with real warmth, and the effort is appreciated far out of proportion to its size. You don't need perfect pronunciation; Japanese vowels are clean and consistent (a as in 'father', i as in 'machine', u as in 'flute', e as in 'pet', o as in 'go'), so reading the romaji roughly as written gets you understood. Pair a few phrases with a smile and a small nod and you'll do fine.

Tokyo Travel Tips

The practical hub — transport, money, etiquette, luggage and the rest of the planning basics.

Tokyo Etiquette Guide

The social norms that go hand in hand with the words — queues, quiet trains, no tipping, shoes-off.

Greetings and the all-purpose words

Start with greetings and the handful of words that do heavy lifting. Konnichiwa こんにちは is daytime 'hello'; ohayō gozaimasu おはようございます is 'good morning'; konbanwa こんばんは is 'good evening'. The most useful single word, though, is sumimasen すみません — it means 'excuse me', 'sorry', and 'thanks for the trouble', and it's how you politely catch a waiter's eye, apologise for a bump, or signal you're coming through. Pair it with arigatō gozaimasu ('thank you'), hai はい ('yes') and iie いいえ ('no'), and you have a courteous backbone for almost any encounter.

A few more smooth the edges. Onegaishimasu お願いします ('please / I request this') is a polite all-purpose 'please' to close a request. Daijōbu desu 大丈夫です means 'I'm fine / it's okay / no thank you' — handy for declining a bag or extra service. Wakarimasen わかりません ('I don't understand') and Eigo wa hanasemasu ka? 英語は話せますか? ('do you speak English?') are graceful ways to flag a gap. And gomennasai ごめんなさい is a sincere 'I'm sorry'. None of these require fluency — they're set phrases you can deploy as units.

• Konnichiwa こんにちは — hello / good afternoon; ohayō gozaimasu — good morning; konbanwa — good evening.
• Sumimasen すみません — excuse me / sorry / thanks-for-the-trouble; the most useful single word.
• Arigatō gozaimasu ありがとうございます — thank you (polite); onegaishimasu — please.
• Hai はい — yes; iie いいえ — no; daijōbu desu — I'm fine / no thank you.
• Eigo wa hanasemasu ka? — do you speak English?; wakarimasen — I don't understand.

Restaurants, stations, shops and hotels

At restaurants, the workhorse is kore o kudasai これをください ('this, please') with a point at the menu, the display, or a neighbour's dish. Sumimasen catches the server's attention. Useful extras: o-susume wa nan desu ka? おすすめは何ですか? ('what do you recommend?'), o-kanjō onegaishimasu お勘定お願いします ('the bill, please'), and oishii おいしい ('delicious') as a happy thank-you. Many casual places use a ticket machine (食券機 shokkenki) — buy a meal ticket from the machine, then hand it to the staff; just press the button by the photo. And remember there's no tipping.

For stations and getting around: ____ wa doko desu ka? ____はどこですか? ('where is ____?') slots in a place name — eki 駅 ('station'), toire トイレ ('toilet'), basu-tei バス停 ('bus stop'). Kippu 切符 is a 'ticket'; ____ made ____まで means 'to / as far as ____'. If you're lost, sumimasen, ____ ni ikitai desu ('excuse me, I want to go to ____') plus pointing at a map usually does it. Staff at stations are used to helping and will often walk you to the right gate.

In shops and hotels, ikura desu ka? いくらですか? asks 'how much?'; kādo wa tsukaemasu ka? カードは使えますか? asks 'can I use a card?'. At a hotel, chekku-in / chekku-auto チェックイン／チェックアウト are 'check-in / check-out' (loanwords, easily understood), and nimotsu o azukatte moraemasu ka? 荷物を預かってもらえますか? asks 'could you hold my luggage?' — useful before check-in or after check-out. Tax-free counters and large stores are very used to foreign visitors, so don't be shy.

• Ordering: kore o kudasai これをください — 'this, please' (point); o-kanjō onegaishimasu — the bill, please.
• Ticket machines (shokkenki 食券機): buy a meal ticket, hand it to staff; press the button by the photo.
• Directions: ____ wa doko desu ka? — where is ____?; eki (station), toire (toilet).
• Shopping: ikura desu ka? — how much?; kādo wa tsukaemasu ka? — can I use a card?
• Hotel: nimotsu o azukatte moraemasu ka? — could you hold my luggage?

Tokyo Trains & Metro Guide

Reading station signs, exits and transfers — the system the station phrases plug into.

Tokyo Ramen Styles

Where the ticket-machine phrasing comes into its own — ordering at a ramen counter.

Allergies, diets, and when to reach for an app

For allergies and dietary needs, precision matters and vague translations are risky — a casually translated 'vegetarian' is widely misunderstood in Japan, where dashi 出汁 (a fish/kelp stock) is in many seemingly meat-free dishes. Learn and, ideally, carry written the exact phrasing: ____ arerugī ga arimasu ____アレルギーがあります ('I have a ____ allergy'), filling in the allergen — for example soba arerugī (buckwheat), rakkasei arerugī (peanut), or kō-kakurui (shellfish). For diets, niku to sakana o tabemasen 肉と魚を食べません ('I don't eat meat or fish') is clearer than a label, and bejitarian / bīgan desu (vegetarian / vegan) helps as a starting point. A written card the kitchen can read is the safest tool of all — and our dedicated guides go deeper on eating vegetarian, vegan or halal in Tokyo.

When phrases run out, modern translation apps are genuinely capable. Camera/photo mode reads menus, signs and packaging on the fly; conversation mode handles back-and-forth at a counter; and typing or speaking a sentence gives you something to show. The key practical tip: download the offline Japanese language pack before you go, so the app still works when you're underground or out of data. Apps aren't perfect with nuance, so keep them simple — short, literal sentences translate best — and don't lean on them for critical allergy information without a clearly written phrase as backup.

Finally, lean on the non-verbal toolkit. Pointing at the menu, the display case, or a photo; showing a screenshot of an address or your destination station; holding up fingers for quantity; and a patient smile will carry you through almost anything words can't. Tokyo's service culture is helpful and the city is set up for visitors — between a few phrases, an app, and a point, you're more than equipped.

• Allergies: ____ arerugī ga arimasu — 'I have a ____ allergy'; carry the exact allergen word written down.
• Beware hidden dashi (出汁, fish stock) in 'vegetarian'-looking dishes — say niku to sakana o tabemasen ('I don't eat meat or fish').
• Translation apps: use camera mode for menus/signs, conversation mode for counters; download the offline pack first.
• Keep app sentences short and literal; don't rely on them alone for allergy info — back them with a written phrase.
• Point, show a screenshot, hold up fingers — the non-verbal toolkit covers the rest.

Vegetarian & Vegan Tokyo

How to eat meat-free in Tokyo — including the dashi trap and the phrases that actually work.

Do I need to speak Japanese to travel in Tokyo?

No — you can have a wonderful Tokyo trip with essentially no Japanese. Major station signage, train announcements and a great many menus carry English, ticket machines and locker screens switch to English, and the city is well practised at welcoming visitors who don't speak the language.

Treat a few phrases as a courtesy and a fallback rather than a survival requirement. A genuine konnichiwa こんにちは ('hello') and arigatō gozaimasu ありがとうございます ('thank you', polite form), paired with a smile and a small nod, are met with real warmth and go a long way.

What does sumimasen mean and when do I use it?

Sumimasen すみません is the single most useful word for a visitor. It means 'excuse me', 'sorry', and 'thanks for the trouble' all at once, so you can use it to politely catch a waiter's eye, apologise for a bump, or signal that you're coming through a crowd.

Pair it with arigatō gozaimasu ('thank you'), hai はい ('yes'), iie いいえ ('no') and onegaishimasu お願いします ('please'), and you have a courteous backbone for almost any encounter — no fluency required, since these work as set phrases.

How do I order food at a Tokyo restaurant in Japanese?

The workhorse phrase is kore o kudasai これをください ('this, please') with a point at the menu, the display case, or a neighbour's dish; sumimasen catches the server's attention first. When you're done, o-kanjō onegaishimasu お勘定お願いします asks for the bill, and oishii おいしい ('delicious') is a happy thank-you.

Many casual places use a meal-ticket vending machine (shokkenki 食券機): buy a ticket from the machine — just press the button by the photo — then hand it to the staff. And remember there's no tipping.

How do I explain a food allergy in Japanese?

Use ____ arerugī ga arimasu ____アレルギーがあります ('I have a ____ allergy'), filling in the allergen — for example soba arerugī (buckwheat), rakkasei arerugī (peanut), or kō-kakurui (shellfish). For diets, niku to sakana o tabemasen 肉と魚を食べません ('I don't eat meat or fish') is clearer than a vague label.

Precision matters: a casually translated 'vegetarian' is widely misunderstood in Japan, where dashi 出汁 (a fish/kelp stock) is in many seemingly meat-free dishes. The safest tool is a written card the kitchen can read — don't rely on an app alone for critical allergy information.

Are translation apps good enough for Tokyo?

Yes, modern translation apps are genuinely capable. Camera or photo mode reads menus, signs and packaging on the fly; conversation mode handles back-and-forth at a counter; and typing or speaking a sentence gives you something to show. The key practical tip is to download the offline Japanese language pack before you go, so the app still works underground or out of data.

Keep sentences short and literal — they translate best — and don't lean on an app alone for critical allergy information without a clearly written phrase as backup. Combined with pointing, showing a screenshot and a patient smile, you're more than equipped.