Words are the building blocks of language. In order to have any type of conversation in Japanese, you will need to know a certain amount of Japanese words. The more Japanese words you know, the more you will be able to communicate. However, it’s not just the number of Japanese words that’s important, but also which ones.
When most people think of learning the Japanese language, they think of the years of hard work they will need to put in. The majority of people consider this hard work and the amount of time it will take to reach fluency, and decide it’s impossible. Having studied Japanese and language learning for over 9 years, I have heard quite a few people say they could never do it. However, learning a new language, even one like Japanese, isn’t as difficult and doesn’t take as long as most people think. In fact, with diligent study and the right materials, I believe someone can have a level of fluency within a matter of months.
The Japanese language has hundreds of thousands of words, but it is only a small fraction of those words that makes up the majority of both the spoken and written language. Since the written words and spoken words will be slightly different, and because most of your communication in Japanese will be spoken, the quickest way to gain fluency is to learn the most commonly spoken Japanese words and phrases.
The key is too choose the right materials. I have used literally dozens of Japanese books and most of them have one common problem, they are full of Japanese words and situational phrases that you don’t need to know. Most also focus too much on learning to say things a proper way. This is great for someone who wants to learn proper Japanese, but will slow down someone who wants to gain conversational fluency. Also, don’t be afraid to use use materials such as comic books, tv shows, and movies. The latter two not only allow you to learn commonly used Japanese words, but practice your listening as well.
Below I have created a short list of some of the most common and most helpful Japanese words. These are words that should definitely be in a Japanese learners vocabulary and will especially be helpful for someone planning to visit Japan. Note that this list is by no means comprehensive or complete, but should help you get around when you visit Japan. In addition to the words listed here, I highly recommend that you study as many common Japanese phrases as possible. Learning common Japanese phrases will help you to better communicate and also to put words in context.
You can also find a much larger list containing 1000+ Japanese words in a downloadable pdf format at the below link.
Common Japanese Words
| English | Japanese | Japanese |
| Me, I | watashi | わたし |
| Me, I (for males | boku | ぼく |
| Yes | hai | はい |
| No | iie | いいえ |
| What | nani | なに |
| Name | namae | なまえ |
| Nice to meet you | Hajimemashite | はじめまして |
| want to go to~ | ~ni ikitai | 〜に いきたい |
| want to eat~ | ~wo tabetai | 〜を たべたい |
| want to drink~ | ~wo nomitai | 〜を のみたい |
| water | omizu | おみず |
| can’t eat~ | ~wo taberarenai | 〜を たべられない |
| excuse me/sorry | sumimasen | すみません |
| thank you | arigatou gozaimasu | ありがとうございます |
| want to buy~ | ~wo kaitai | 〜を かいたい |
| want to see~ | ~wo mitai | 〜を みたい |
| sorry | gomen nasai | ごめん なさい |
| good morning | ohayougozaimasu | おはようございます |
| good afternoon | konnichi wa | こんにちは |
| good evening | konnban wa | こんばんは |
| how are you? | ogenki desu ka | おげんき です か |
| I’m fine | genki desu | げんき です |
| taxi | takushii | タクシー |
| hotel | hoteru | ホテル |
| train | densha | でんしゃ |
| station | eki | えき |
| hospital | byouin | びょういん |
| where is~ | ~wa doko | 〜は どこ |
| bathroom | otearai | おてあらい |
| ticket | kippu | きっぷ |
| money | okane | おかね |
| bank | ginkou | ぎんこう |
| police | keisatsu | けいさつ |
| How much? | ikura | いくら |
| plane | hikouki | ひこうき |
| foreigner | gaijin | がいじん |
| Japan | nihon | にほん |
| Japanese | nihonjin | p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; }
にほんじん |
| person | hito | ひと |
| hurts | itai | いたい |
25 Other Helpful Japanese Words
| noon | ohiru | おひる |
| morning | asa | あさ |
| evening | yoru | よる |
| meal | gohan | ごはん |
| play | asobu | あそぶ |
| listen | kiku | きく |
| expensive | takai | たかい |
| half | hanbun | はんぶん |
| cheap | yasui | やすい |
| room | heya | へや |
| art museum | bijutsukan | びじゅつかん |
| park | koen | こうえん |
| zoo | doubutsuen | どうぶつえん |
| express train | kaisoku | かいそく |
| subway | chikatetsu | ちかてつ |
| car | kuruma | くるま |
| close | chikai | ちかい |
| far | toi | とおい |
| tasty | oishii | おいしい |
| spacious | hiroi | ひろい |
| narrow | semai | せまい |
| warm | atatakai | あたたかい |
| cold | samui | さむい |
| bright | akarui | あかるい |
| dark | kurai | くらい |
Numbers and Time
| One | ichi | いち |
| Two | ni | に |
| Three | san | さん |
| Four | shi | し |
| Five | go | ご |
| Six | roku | ろく |
| Seven | shichi | しち |
| Eight | hachi | はち |
| Nine | ku | く |
| Ten | juu | じゅう |
| One hundred | hyaku | 百 |
| One thousand | sen | せん |
| Ten thousand | man | まん |
| Time | jikan | じかん |
| ~O’clock | ji | じ |
| Fall | aki | あき |
| Winter | fuyu | ふゆ |
| Spring | haru | はる |
| Summer | natsu | なつ |
| Monday | getsuyoubi | げつようび |
| Tuesday | kayoubi | かようび |
| Wednesday | suiyoubi | すいようび |
| Thursday | mokuyoubi | もくようび |
| Friday | kinyoubi | きんようび |
| Saturday | doyoubi | どようび |
| Sunday | nichiyoubi | にちようび |
| weekend | shuumatsu | しゅうまつ |
| vacation, rest | yasumi | やすみ |
Hi Min,
Thanks for reading Japanese Words. たかい（高い）can mean both tall and expensive. The word and the kanji are the same for both words.
Hi Nick this is urgent sorry its my friends birthday 19th august she will be 18 and I’ve found out how to say happy birthday in Japanese – Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu! but do I put it as Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu! Arisa or Arisa Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu!? Her name is Arisa ^^ Arigato gozaimasu take care mate. By the way its in 3 days save you counting mate.
Hi Gaktkr,
Adding the persons name isn’t necessary unless you are writing it in a letter or card. If that’s the case then you can put her name as you would when writing any other letter. So basically, お誕生日おめでとうございます by itself is perfectly fine. がんばってね！
Thanks Nick ^-^ also I love the site it looks more beautiful than ever the background colour is very very very nice ^-^
hi all
i have been trying to learn japanese for quite sometime, can anyone please tell me what call me later in japanese is?
Hi Kiko 148,
You can say these for “call me later” in Japanese.
Thanks for visiting Japanese Words
「後で電話してね。(Atode denwa shitene.)」
「後で電話ちょうだい。(Atode denwa choudai.)」
Hi Gaktkr, no problem. Glad to hear that you liked the new look!
Hi again Nick I got a girlfriend I love her so so sooo much she is from the Phillippines but lives in Japan does her culture still apply to where she lives? or is it Japanese culture she goes by? Oh by the way she is called Aika and she is 18 I’m 15 hehe ^^
Thanks mate take care.
Also Nick I know 日本 means Japan (Nihon) but what does the symbols 日, 本 stand for?
Thanks take care mate.
Hi Nick what is friendly in Japanese?
Hey Gaktkr,
Her cultural practices will depend completely on her. Your best bet would just be to ask her about it. Good luck!
gaktkr, 日 is the character for sun or day and 本 is the character for origin and also book. So basically 日本 translates as “origin of the sun”.
gaktkr, there are a number of ways to say friendly, but the two most common are probably やさしい (yasashii), which actually means “nice” and フレンドリー (furendorii) which is katakana for friendly.
Konnichiwa Nick.After many days I’ve got a chance to write.The good news is that my oniisan is learning japanese in his colledge by the japanese embasy.He asked for some help and I mentioned this site’s name.He found it very very useful and wanted to tell you origatou gozaimasu.The new blogs were both entertaining and educative.The new background has enhanced te beauty of the site.Good job and best of luck to you and Eri.
BJ, どういたしまして！Thank you very much for recommending the site. I am happy to hear that your お兄さん is learning 日本語 and that the site was helpful for him. I have just posted a new list of words he may find useful. You can find them here: Japanese Words. I will also be adding a number of helpful links and hopefully some great products over the next few weeks so please stay tuned!
Hi Nick thanks for telling me \^-^/ I keep saying take care to my Japanese friends but I would like to know what take care is in Japanese thanks so much for your help mate your awesome!!
Sorry for all the questions Nick but what is how was your day? in Japanese?
Thanks mate.
Gaktkr, To say “take care” you can say “元気でね”（げんきでね）。
For “how was your day” you can say “今日何をした？”（きょうなにをした) or “今日どうだった”（きょうどうだった)
頑張ってね！
Thanks so much Nick! Have you been to Japan because you know a lot of Japanese hehe ^^
元気でね.
Gaktkr, どういたしまして.
I studied abroad in Tokyo as a college student. and then moved back to Japan after graduating from University in the States. I currently live in Japan.
Your so so so so soooo lucky Nick!! How much Japanese do you suggest me to learn (symbols) and alphabets? I find it hard because there is so many but I can read some Japanese but sometimes I dont know what it means ^^
Oh Nick I was wondering what do you think about these countrys?
Taiwan and Philippines also China?
Thanks take care mate!!
Gaktkr, How much Japanese you should learn depends on what your goals are, but I highly recommend learning the basic kana (hiragana and katakana). This will help to read and to pronounce Japanese. If you plan to study, work, or live in Japan, then I recommend you also learn kanji.
I have never been to the countries that you mentioned so I can’t really give you much of an opinion on them. I guess only that I would love to visit them all.
Hey nick,
Im just starting to learn japanese because i was curios because it looks like han gul (korean).
Ive learned hiragana and im busy with katakana that shouldn’t take long but the problem is that when I go to for example msn.jp I cant read a thing because its in kanji?
what am I doing wrong?
Hi Dong, thanks for reading. It is very good that you are learning Hiragana and Katana. In regards to your question about kanji, There is a great add-on for Firefox called Rikaichan. It allows you to put your mouse over any word and it will give you the reading and meaning. You can find more info on Rikaichan here: Learn Japanese with Rikaichan.
Oh thanks so much Nick! I plan to live in Japan with my girlfriend ^^ She knows English, Tagalog and Japanese so atleast if I dont know 100% Japanese then I can ask her she said I can be with her all day everyday holding her hand \^-^/
Thanks so much!!
Hello..Can you tell me of what type is the japanese language.I mean is it only kanji or kanji,hiragana or katakana mix.origato gazaimasu.ja mata.
BJ, The Japanese language uses Kanji, Hiragana, and katakan. They even use romaji sometimes.
How do I say “Who is this” and “whose is this” ? Thank you
Ohayoo Gozaimasu! I’m currently taking Japanese class actually and i was wondering if, whenever you next visited the states that you could come and speak to us. I am certain that my teacher wont mind and I know that the class would be overjoyed if we could not only meet but actually talk to someone who has studied the language so abroad. I hope that you consider this but if you say no I would certainly understand. Yes or no I would really appreciate it if you e-mailed me instead of just posting it on this website. Again, I hope to hear from you in the future.
Hi Bernie,
“Who is this” would be “kochira ha dare desu ka”. “Whose is this” would be “kore ha dare no desu ka”.
Hi. Can you translate this for me? Watashi wa itsu demo sewa wo suru ai. Please. Thanks
I really like how he has the words its really nice. I will sure learn alot from him
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for your comment. I am glad you found this post helpful.
Hi,
sensei , watashi kara malaysia .I have finished my japanese language class but i m looking for job in japan . how can get if u have any idea suggest me arigato gojaimash .
Madhu,
Congratulations on the completion of your Japanese class! To be honest, I think you will have a difficult time finding a job in Japan at your current level of Japanese and English. However, a good place to start looking is http://www.gaijinpot.com/index.php
Good luck
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Dōmo arigatō.
Hi! I have a friend at work that lived and studied abroad in Japan for 3 years and she was just recently promoted to a new position within the company we work for. I’d like to tell her ‘congratulations and good luck’ in Japanese but am having difficulty finding this phrase online because I’m not able to read the Japanese symbols supplied by most websites, so would it be possible to receive letters so I can try to convey the message to her?
Thank you so much for your help!!
Hi Candace,
To say congrats and good luck you can say:
omedetou gozaimasu! Ganbatte kudasai!
“ganbatte kudasai” translates as do your best, but has a feeling of “good luck”
HELLO !
.. what is “i miss you” ? in Japanese? arigato gozaimasu 
what is “i miss you” in japanese ?
Roze,
“I miss you” is a difficult one in Japanese. There is no Japanese word or phrase that translates exactly. Probably the closest is 会いなくて寂しい (ainakute samishii).
hey nick this is an awesome site!
i love the words you put into this site…
i’m going to *attempt* to learn all the words
and phrases haha!
hey i was wondering…how would you say
“I Love You!” in japanese?
i’m not really experienced with most of the language
yet…i know only a few words and phrases in japanese
…and by a few i mean 3 haha!
i love the japanese language and someday i would
like to go to japan but i want to be able to learn
as much of the language as i can…^___^
i have many years to learn cause i’m only 16 haha!
but thanks for your time & help…..
^___^
~*~Ziqqy~*~
PS: Ziqqy isn’t my real name haha bet you knew that
but my nickname is haha! it is actually ZIGGY
but i like putting Q’s for G’s ^___^
Domo-Arigato (AGAIN!) since i dont know the word
*again* in japanese haha
Hi Ziggy,
Thanks for the comment. I am glad that you have found the site to be useful. To say I love you in Japanese is “aishiteru” (愛してる）。 A lot of people say that Japanese is a hard language, but all you need is a good motivation and some dedication and anyone can do it. You might start by checking out Eri Kobayashi’s online Japanese classes. She is a native Japanese speaker so it will help you pronounce Japanese correctly.
Learn Japanese
konnichiwa !! i really really love vague but sometimes i dont know how to pronounce some words !!
Konnichi ha minna san!
kono peeji ha totemo benri da to omou da ne!
watashi ha daigaku de nihongo wo benkyoushiteru. mata Japanesepod101.com de mo benkyoushimasu.
nihongo ga daisuki desuga totemo muzukashii de aru!
matane!
shitsumon ga aru? (yasashii japanese) e-meeru ni kaite kudasai imminent.collapse – at – gmail.
I allways wanted to live in japan I’m 13 and live in Canada.
Jay,
Living in Japan is a great experience, so never give up on your dream. There are a lot of ways to get to Japan (save money for a trip, study abroad, work in Japan, etc) so you just have to choose the right one.
I went first as a visitor, then as a student, then came back again to work.
hi!!!
thanks for this…!
this help me alot in my assignment….
i really want to go to JAPAN!!!
i want to see some geisha!!! and wear yukata or kimono…
but i know it’s impossible…
thanks again!
arigatou gozaimasu!!!
my crush is half japanese… tnx for pasting this…