TCJ Blog

When I speak to Japanese learners and ask, “What is the most difficult part of learning Japanese?” most of them say, “Keigo.” Interestingly, it’s not just Japanese learners who find honorifics challenging—even native speakers struggle with it. In fact, there are specialized textbooks on keigo specifically designed for business professionals. That’s why understanding how keigo works can give you a huge advantage in mastering Japanese. Let’s dive into the world of Japanese honorifics!

The ultimate purpose of business is bringing benefits to yourself or your company. By using correct Japanese, let’s do delightful communication and think of nice ways to make a successful business.

The other day, I spoke with a Japanese language learner who owns a shop. They mentioned, “I'm really not good at answering the phone, so I have my Japanese part-time staff handle calls.” In fact, it seems that over half of Japanese people also feel uncomfortable using the phone for work. This time, let's introduce not only phone-related vocabulary but also phone etiquette and conversation phrases useful for handling calls in companies and work settings. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

The way Japanese uses “yes” (hai) and “no” (iie) is quite unique. For example, to the question “Have you finished your meal?” the answer would be “Hai, I’ve finished.” But even to the opposite question, “Haven’t you finished your meal?” the reply is still “Hai, I haven’t finished yet.” In Japanese, “hai” can be used to answer both types of questions, even though their meanings are completely opposite.

In this article, we’ll introduce how Japanese is generally spoken in everyday life, using examples from anime. I believe you can enjoy anime even more after learning some important points about Japanese!