Essential Japanese Travel Phrases (+ Grammar)

こんにちは、ジャパニーズアーマーのミサです。 Hey guys, today I'm going to teach you useful phrases you can use when you travel to Japan. I'm going to teach you basic phrases too but in this video we will also learn more advanced phrases and grammar points through those phrases. Phrases that will be helpful to use at the hotel, at the station and how to ask for directions and all the useful stuff. Okay, the most important phrase you need to remember before going to Japan is すみません which means sorry or excuse me. Forget こんにちは, hello, こんばんは, good evening. We use すみません way more often like if you want to ask for directions definitely start with すみません, excuse me for everything. Also Japanese people like to say すみません before saying thank you. So you will hear this combo a lot. I'm sorry, thank you. We tend to apologize when somebody helps us because we feel like we took somebody's time and like they had to spend their time to help us so it feels like we cause trouble. This is such a common phrase 迷惑をかける to cause trouble. We tend to say すみませんありがとうございます if somebody picks up what you dropped. So if you want to sound more native like just say sorry a lot. Okay, how to ask for directions. Let's start with something easy. Maybe you know how to say where is place. はどこですか? どこ is the word for where. どこ where ここ here あそこ over there. Usually a spot that is far-ish from the speaker and the listener. And そこ there and then you're pointing at the place near the listener, the person you're talking to. Anyway if you are an absolute beginner you can just say place はどこですか? You will hear thisですか a lot at the end of the sentence. Either ですか or ますか that means the person is speaking formally or politely. So something to remember that in Japan when speaking to strangers you are supposed to use this formal speech. So either you are です or ます at the end of the sentence. And this か marks that it's a question. So yeah you will be saying ですか? ますか? a lot. です works like to be in English like is. Another thing to keep in mind is that in Japanese we put the verb at the end of the sentence. There might be some particles like か ね よ after verbs. But generally the construction will look like subject which is often omitted. And then object and then verb. So in English you'd say where is んんんんん. In Japanese we say んんんんん は どこ ですか? Okay so that might help you remember the word order. We usually introduce the topic or the subject at the beginning of the sentence. So if you are at the restaurant you can say すみませんお手洗いはどこですか? Excuse me where is the bathroom? You can use the word トイレ as well. And that's very common when speaking casually. So yeah if I'm with my friend I would just say トイレどこ? Where is the bathroom? Can you also see the difference? トイレどこ? is how I would ask my friend where's the toilet? Where's the bathroom? It's so much shorter right? So we love to omit a lot of things. So トイレ is okay but if you wanna sound a little bit more polite, discreet I guess you can say お手洗い which literally means hand washing area. Where is the nearest? means number one. But 一番 can also mean the best or the most. And 近い means near, close. means the closest, the nearest. Maybe you know the curry place ここいち or ここいちばん. It literally means this place is the best. Remember どこ where ここ here. ここいちばん means here is the best place to eat curry. This ばん means number. So 一番近い number one close literally the nearest. For example, where is the nearest ATM? Because Japan loves cash 現金 cash. So 一番近いATMはどこですか? Where is the nearest station? Now this is more for advanced learners but you can also say 最寄り to mean nearest. And we often use 最寄り instead of 一番近い when talking about the nearest station or bus stop from your house. So 最寄りの駅 means the nearest station. Basically the same as 一番近い駅. We also say 最寄り駅 as one word. You might see this on websites if you're looking for a place to rent. For example, 最寄り駅まで徒歩10分. 10-minute walk to the nearest station. But as a beginner just remember 一番近いはどこですか? Where is the nearest? But it might be more natural to say この近くにはありますか? Is there nearby? For example, すみません、この近くにATMはありますか? Excuse me, is there an ATM nearby? 近い is how we say near, close. When you want to say nearby, around here, you want to say この近くに 近い is an adjective and 近く is a noun and an adverb. Anyway, just remember that we can't say 近いに. We say 近くに to mean nearby. So this is very useful to remember. Place に, this に marks the location. Place に something はありますか? ある、あります mean to exist or there is something. So for example, when you want to ask do you have an English menu, we would use this verb as well. 英語のメニューはありますか? Is there an English menu? Don't really get obsessed with the word to have in English because you might look up the word to have and then in Japanese, it might be like もっている which means to possess, to own, to have. But this ある is very commonly used. So do you have time? 時間ある, informally. 時間がありますか? Do you have money? お金ある、お金がありますか? Do you have a passport? パスポートはありますか? Or if you are at the airport, you might hear 旅券をお願いします. We do use the word パスポート actually more commonly when speaking, yeah, informally but at the airport, they often use the word 旅券 so that's also good to remember. 旅券のお願いします。 お願いします literally means I beg you or I request you. It's used like please and they don't mean please, here you go. It's more like show it to me, please. So お願いします is quite versatile. If you want water, you can also say お水をお願いします。 You might also hear おねがい in the informal speech and that means please, pretty please, おねがい. Anyway, ありますか is there. この近くにバス停はありますか? バス停、バストップ、バス、この近くにバス停はありますか? Okay, for more advanced learners, instead of この近くに you can also say このあたりに in this neighborhood or around this area. So すみません、このあたりに薬局はありますか? 薬局, drug store, pharmacy. このあたりに薬局はありますか? 近い is how we say near. 遠い, 遠い is how we say far. For example, is it far from here? ここから遠いですか? ここ, here, から means from. It can also mean because. So から can indicate where or when something starts from or the reason. For example, 忙しいから行けない。 I can't come because I'm busy. 駅まで遠いですか? is the station far. You will hear this まで a lot as well. x から y まで means from x to y. And x and y can either be places or time. So from 9 to 5. 9時から5時まで or from Tokyo to Osaka. 東京から大阪まで Some people might be thinking, what about the に particle? Yes, good. So for example, I will go to Japan. You'd say, 日本に行きます。 に is like to, the preposition to in English. And this に particle indicates direction. So 日本に means to Japan. The に particle can mean a lot of things. It can indicate time. It can indicate location. It can indicate direction. But when you go somewhere from point A to B, we tend to use まで more. まで indicates destination usually. Or the end goal, the end time. 大阪に行きます。 Means I'm going to Osaka. So you're just maybe talking about your plan on the weekend. But if you say 大阪まで行きます. That sounds like you want to emphasize the fact that Osaka is your destination. So the phrase, デスティネーションまで行きますか? is often used about trains or buses. So it kind of sounds like this train might stop at many more stations. But will it get me to Osaka? So この電車は渋谷駅まで行きますか? Will this train go to Shibuya station? Okay, so if you're worried about the distance, something まで 遠いですか? is useful. But you can also remember the phrase ここから歩けますか? Can I walk to that place? 歩く is how we say walk. Although if you want to say let's go for a walk, we'd say 散歩行こう、散歩に行こう、散歩しよう。 If you have a dog, you can probably relate to this. My dog could hear the word 散歩 even if we were not in the same room. She'll be sleeping and 散歩、散歩。 So 歩く, to walk. You'd also hear the word 歩いて which means on foot. 歩いて, by walking. So 歩いて行けますか? is also very common. Instead of just 歩けますか? まで歩いて行けますか? スカイツリーまで歩いて行けますか? Can I get to Skytree on foot? Or is it within walking distance? 歩いて行ける距離 is how we say walking distance. 距離, distance. 歩いて行ける。 行く is to go. 行ける, can go. So 歩いて行ける literally means can go by walking. Can go on foot. Okay, now the phrase. Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to... So this one is going to be a bit longer. Before I overwhelm you with the long sentence, remember we indicate destination by using the particle まで. So destination まで. And then remember the verb to go is 行く. Okay, or 行きます formally. What I'm doing, teaching, the verb to teach is 教える. So if you want to say please teach me Japanese, you can say 日本語を教えてください。 So when you want to say please, you'd often hear this てください at the end. So てください is polite, but Japanese people like to go above and beyond when it comes to formality and politeness. So you might also hear てもらえますか? It's like could you do something for me? Or てくれますか? This is slightly less polite. てもらえますか? Or ていただけますか? This is super polite. You might know the phrase いただきます. いただきます is slightly different from bon appetit or dig in. いただきます means I humbly receive. It's really the phrase to say when you are eating, not when you're serving food or when you watch your friend eat. Speaking of いただきます, the phrase we say before eating, this video is sponsored by Sakurako and Tokyo Treat. Thank you so much. They really helped me continue making more videos. And you can use my code MISA to get $5 off of your first Sakurako and Tokyo Treat box. So Sakurako is a monthly authentic Japanese snack subscription box that supports local Japanese snack makers. And every month you get 20 different authentic Japanese snacks. And also it comes with special tea. And each month you get a special tableware. This month you get this pretty sakura cherry blossom glass. Blueberry hibiscus tea. I already tried this tea and it smells amazing. It's really soft. It has so much flavor. I love it. Smells like sakura. Oh senbei is made of rice. And usually it's savory so I'm curious what it's gonna taste like. Wow I wasn't expecting this. Like it's crunchy at first but then it kind of melts in your mouth and then the flavor kind of pops. Wow. I love this. Next let me show you Tokyo Treat. So Tokyo Treat is a monthly pop Japanese subscription box that comes with up to 20 exclusive unlimited seasonal flavored sweets and snacks. And so far I get to try different flavors of KitKat every month. And this month it's strawberry. Okay this I've had this before. This is so good. It is really good. This is seaweed flavor. You might think what seaweed? It works. It really works. This month it comes with yakisoba. Japanese fried noodles. That was so good. And sakurako comes with a special tea right? And in Tokyo Treat you usually get a drink. And this time it's acerola. Nice. Itadakimasu. Oishii. Amazuppai. Sakura busse. Nandaro? Wow. Sugoi kirei. There's a cream inside. Fuwafuwa. Sugoi oishii. Osusume desu. I highly recommend them. You can find the links in the description box and in the comments. And also you can use my code MISA to get five dollars off. Okay. All right. Let's get back to the lesson. The reason why I explain this is because itadakimasu is related to itadakemasu ka. So if you hear the vowel e plus masu ka it's often about potential form. Like can you? Can I? Like aruite ikemasu ka? Can I walk to that place? Or eigo ga hanasemasu ka? Can you speak English? I know in English you would rather say do you speak English? But in Japanese we'd rather use this potential form. Like showing your ability. So if you say eigo hanashimasu ka sounds like do you speak English every day? Or do you speak English with your partner? Eigo ga hanasemasu ka? Or eigo hanasemasu ka? Do you know English? Anyway this eimasu ka could you? Itadakemasu ka? Could you please? Could you teach me? Could you tell me how? So te itadakemasu ka? It's super polite. Te moraemasu ka? Can you please? That's still polite enough. So could you tell me how to get to... Ikikata means a way or how to. So ikikata how to go. How to get to a place. This is extremely polite. And I'm making fun of this. You will hear this te itadakemasu ka a lot as a customer or as a client. If this overwhelmed you I don't blame you. Don't worry there are easier ways to say the same thing. But the most natural way and the easiest way is... Puppy eyes. It's so useful to add... at the end of the sentence. You might think it's more natural to say... Could you tell me how? Because that's how you say in English. But in Japanese we like to be very indirect. We expect others to be psychics. Like please read my mind. Like I don't wanna say can you tell me? Because that would be rude. Like I'm asking too much. So I'm just gonna say I would like to go to this place. And imply that I don't know how. And I'm hoping that you will tell me. You might think this is stupid. But this is really how Japanese people communicate. I think a lot of my friends who have dated Japanese person told me that this is one of the things that they struggle. Because their Japanese partner would expect you to understand what they want without telling them. I mean it's not just a Japanese thing. It's quite common right? But in Japan this is an extremely common thing. Like if I say it's hot right? I expect the other person to open the window or turn on the AC. For example if I'm a guest and as a Japanese person I kind of feel uncomfortable using somebody else's control or just changing the environment as a guest. So instead of asking oh it's hot could you open the window? Or it's hot can you turn on the AC? We would say oh it's hot isn't it? Or is it just me? Or say I'm leaving my friend's house and it just started raining. Instead of saying can I borrow your umbrella? 傘貸してくれる? Which means can you lend me an umbrella? I would say 傘忘れちゃった。 Oh I forgot my umbrella. 傘持ってこなかった。 I didn't bring my umbrella. So Japanese people often think it's rude to ask somebody to do something. Even if we want somebody to help us we just describe the situation and then wait until the other person offers to help us. Anyway the reason why I said it is because I'm teaching the phrase place まで行きたいんですが So 行く to go 行きたい want to go It's very important to add んですが when you want to imply something else. So if I just say 渋谷に行きたい 渋谷に行きたいです I'm just expressing what I want to do. I want to go to Shibuya. It sounds like maybe that's my dream or that's just my plan on the weekend. Whilst 渋谷まで First it's important to use まで to show that that's the destination. That's the place you want to be. You want to go to. 渋谷まで行きたいんですが This んです or の at the end of sentence is called explanatory particle. So you're explaining, implying your situation. So I'm in this situation where I'd like to go to Shibuya but I don't really know how. So that's how we imply can you tell us? Can you tell me how? This is extremely useful. So instead of saying where is something This is quite a direct question and being direct is a big deal to Japanese people. You really have to understand this cultural weirdness. Instead of asking where something is we might rather say I mean this phrase is also quite natural in English I think. So yeah I'm looking for a t-shirt. Again adding this んですが at the end is really important. If you say It sounds like I'm announcing what I'm going to do. What I'm doing right now but I don't need your help. I'm just saying it. I'm just saying what I'm doing right now. I'm speaking in case you don't know. But if you want to say I'm talking stop shouting for example. Then you want to imply like I'm talking Then you say Or you're looking for an apartment to rent and you have a cat. Instead of asking like are cats allowed in this apartment we might say So I have a cat. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I'm trying to ask you if you'd let me have my cat in this apartment. So this んですが makes all the difference. So although we end the sentence with this んですが It's actually really not ending at all. So if you want to be proper you can also end the sentence and say どの電車に乗ったらいいですか 渋谷駅まで行きたいんですが どの電車に乗ったらいいですか を乗ればいいですか 乗ったらいいですか を乗ればいいですか means should I get on the train. This is how we would say excuse me I would like to go to Shibuya station. Which train do I need to get there? This is really long so you can also just say Which one is the train that goes to Shibuya? Does this train go to Shibuya station? Or yeah if you want to say does this train stop at this station because there are some stops that get skipped So it's really good to remember this phrase It's really good to be able to recognize these two words Or sometimes they say It's local It stops at every station So it only stops at big stations and not small stations Where should I change trains to get to station Shibuya? のりかえ is another really important word to remember It's transfer transferring at the station Where do you transfer? Where do you change trains? You can use this when you want to ask something like I would like to do this thing Do you know any good place? For example hanami is cherry blossom viewing It's like having a picnic on the sakura trees and you eat things or chat with your friends while admiring the beauty of cherry blossoms It's called hanami So hanami wo shitain desu ga ii basho wo shitte imasu ka? Shitte imasu ka means do you know Or ramen wo tabetain desu ga osusume no ramen ya wa arimasu ka? I'd like to eat ramen Do you have any recommendations for ramen place? Or just in general you're explaining your situation So this is useful when you lose something and you want to ask an employee or staff Have you seen my... So you start with sumimasen Excuse me Saifu wo nakushitan desu ga Excuse me I lost my wallet In blank Have you seen it? Has anyone brought it to you? Pasupouto wo nakushitan desu I lost my passport What should I do? You don't even have to say what should I do Like just pasupouto wo nakushitan desu ga And then just freeze and they will help you Or keitai wo nakushitan desu ga Smartphone wo nakushitan desu ga I lost my phone Keitai or smartphone Smartphone is short for smartphone Smartphone Nakusu to lose Nakushita lost So keitai wo nakushitan desu ga Keitai wo kashite itadakemasen ka? Remember this Teitadakemasen ka? Could you please Kasu is to lend Could you please lend me your phone? But again if you're asking a stranger Can I borrow your phone? It's quite... It's a lot to ask right? So most Japanese people would be like Keitai wo nakushitan desu ga And be awkward like And so I lost my phone And then Can you please Offer me your phone without me asking Or you want to buy a ticket But you don't know how to use the ticket machine You can say Kippu wo kaitain desu ga I would like to buy a ticket and Kippu is usually really only for train tickets If we are talking about tickets for cinema We would say Chiketto Or yeah Ken is another word for ticket A lot of ramen restaurants often have this machine Where you order from the machine Rather than talking to a person Then they might say Ken instead of Chiketto Ken Flight ticket We'd say Koukuken Kippu wo kaitain desu ga Or you wanna try some clothes on Or shoes on at a store You can say Kono kutsu wo haite mitain desu ga I would like to try these shoes on Kono kutsu wo haite mitain desu ga Haite miru Means to try wearing something below your waist Desu n desu ga is really good When you wanna imply Or explain your situation That means we often also use Desu n desu when making excuses Or explaining why One is late Anyway I have a lesson on this But you can also use desu n desu ga when you wanna ask Oh wow Like where did you buy that? Where did you get that? You can say Doko de kattan desu ka? So doko de kaimashita ka? Is another way to say Where did you buy it? But if you say Doko de kattan desu ka? It sounds like I'm very interested in it And I want you to tell me a lot about it You know so it also is often used To show your interest or engagement in conversation But yeah if you wanna make friends for example Or like you just wanna talk to a Japanese person But don't really know what You can start with like small compliments right You're talking to a store clerk And you notice they have a nice watch for example Then you can say Ah sono toke kakkoii desu ne Oh wow your watch is cool Or sono jaketto niatte masu ne Oh you look great in that jacket That jacket looks great on you Means something looks good on somebody And then they might start talking about a place And then you can say Oh mada itta koto nai desu Like I've never been there And then you know So let's say you really like that person's watch Sono toke sugoku kakkoii desu Your watch is so cool And then you wanna ask how much it is Try not asking ikura desu ka Ikura deshita ka How much is it? How much was it? How much did you pay? I mean it's also a little bit like whoa Even outside of Japan But especially in Japan If you're really curious about the price Maybe go indirect and be like Takasoo that looks expensive Rather than how much did you pay Ikura deshita ka Ikura haraimashita ka Yeah takasoo looks expensive Or saying something like Oh you could totally wear that on the red carpet You know like stuff like that But ikura desu ka is a good phrase To remember how much is it If you wanna use taxi Takushi Taxi stand Taxi rank We say takushi noriba Takushi noriba It's a bit confusing but Eki station Basute bus stop Takushi noriba Taxi stand It's always good to ask How much it would be Before really getting in So you can say Destination made Ikitain desu ga Ikura gurai desu ka This gurai means approximately Ikura desu ka is okay But if you wanna sound more natural I would suggest Ikura gurai desu ka Around how much But if you don't care Then you can get in And then say Destination made onegaishimasu Konbanwa konnichiwa Made onegaishimasu So onegaishimasu To this place please And it's not rude at all This is how people ask And then if you wanna ask How long will it take You can say Dono kurai kakarimasu ka Dono kurai or dore kurai Both are fine But yeah it means How long will it take You can also say Destination made Dore kurai jikan ga kakarimasu ka Adding jikan can be helpful To tell them that You really wanna know How long it will take So name of the hotel Otteru made onegaishimasu I personally get Carsickness It's good to remember how to say I feel nauseated You can say Hakikega shimasu This really means You feel like you might throw up Hakikega shimasu I feel nauseated So if you want your taxi driver to stop You can say Sumimasen Hakikega shimasu Chotto or sukoshi A little bit Tomete kudasai Please stop for a moment Or Tomete moraemasu ka Again When asking somebody to do something We tend to use this Te moraemasu ka A lot Could you do something for me Sumimasen Hakikega shimasu Tomete moraemasu ka Sorry I feel nauseated Can you stop So Te moraemasu ka Is very useful For example Can you take a picture for us You know obviously you can just Show your camera And then they'll probably get the hint But you can say Shashin wo totte moraemasu ka Can you take a picture for us So shashin Called to Toru Is to take Shashin wo toru To take a picture Shashin wo totte moraemasu ka Can you take a picture for me A few more phrases with Te moraemasu ka If you're a hotel And you want to leave your luggage It's the last day at your hotel Are you checked out But you want to leave your luggage You can ask Nimotsu wo azukatte moraemasu ka Nimotsu Is how we say luggage You can also say Su-tsu ke-su Or Ryukku Backpack Yeah Su-tsu ke-su wo azukatte moraemasu ka Azukaru means To keep something for some time But you will return it It's not really like lending But yeah you're just Keeping it for somebody If you want somebody to watch your stuff While you go to the bathroom For example You can say Nimotsu wo mitete moraemasu ka More correctly It's Mite ite moraemasu ka Nimotsu wo mite moraemasu ka Means Can you take a look at it Whereas Nimotsu wo mite ite moraemasu ka Means Can you keep watching it While I'm gone Okay before we end Some other useful phrases are How do you read this? Because kanji is rough So don't be afraid to ask How to read some kanji More informally you can say Then how do you say In Japanese Informally you can say How do you say Two more phrases Could you say one more time Means One more time Or you can just say Rather than using the verb To say Okay there were actually more phrases That I wanted to pack in But I think this is a good place to end For me and also for your brain But I hope you enjoyed this lesson If you did please give a thumbs up And make sure to subscribe to this channel And let me know if you want part two of this video Again this video was kindly sponsored by Tokyo Treat and Sakurako Amazing monthly snack box subscription services So check them out You can use my code MISA And shout out to all my patrons And people who watch me stream on Twitch as well I've been streaming a lot on Twitch I try to teach Japanese while streaming So play Ni No Kuni It's like a Ghibli game Like reading Japanese and teaching Japanese So check that out You can follow me there for free On Twitch subscribing to a channel Either costs money or you can use your Prime to Yeah subscribe But that also helps me massively I also have Ko-fi Which is like Patreon Like a crowdfunding service Yeah thank you so much for everyone who supported me Can't say thank you enough But obviously you subscribing to my channel And liking this video And leaving comments also helped me a lot So yeah thank you And thank you for watching this video If you're going to Japan have a safe trip If you're in Japan already Then I hope you're enjoying your time there If you haven't made a plan to go to Japan yet Then don't worry Your time will come You know for now it's good to study these phrases as well Okay thank you so so much Thank you so much See you next time Bye bye