Traveling to Japan: Japanese Money & “How Much is this?”

Hello Everyone! Finally another blog post on Japanese Language/ Culture. This time, I am going to teach you how to ask how much something is in Japanese, as well as how to understand the response - Keep this guide handy if you’re traveling to Japan anytime soon, it will be quite useful!

First things first, when you hold something up and want to ask the shop keeper, “How much is this?” here is what you say:

これ　は　いくら　ですか?  Or “Kore Wa Ikura Des Ka?” 

** In case you are unfamiliar with how the Japanese pronounce the English alphabet, here is a more phonetic spelling for you “Co-ray  wa  Ee-coo-ra des Kah?” **


Congratulations! Now you can ask anyone how much something is. However, when they respond, you may notice they don’t say how much “Yen” it is, but rather how much “En.” That’s right, we westerners just refer to their money system as yen, but really there is no “Y,” it’s just En. 

Another random Fun Fact! I thought in Japan they referred to their country as Japan like we do, but it’s actually “日本” or “Nihon.” Really surprised me when I first found out.

Now, rather than teaching you the whole numbers system and how it works just to know the clerks response, I will teach you numbers 1-9 and the word for “1,000.” This should cover most of your bases for 90% of what you will buy.

1. “Ichi” 
2. “Ni”
3. “San”
4. Can be said as “shi” or “yon”
5. “Go”
6. “Roku”
7. Can be said as “ShiChi” or “Nana”
8. “Hachi”
9. Can be said as “Que” or “Ku”
10. “Jew”
1,000. “Sen”

Now, the formula is the same as English. So for Two Thousand, you just say the Japanese word for Two and the Japanese word for Thousand, so as you probably have guessed, if something is 2,000 yen, it will be said as “Ni Sen En.” Just put the pieces of the puzzle together. Additionally, If you are wondering why there are two ways of saying some of the numbers.. Well, so am I. That’s kind of just the way it is. Sorry!

Moving on to reading written tags on items or signs. Luckily for you, even though there are kanji characters for each number and they are spoken differently than in English, they are actually written in English. So a price tag will (99% of the time) say something like “5,000¥.” 

Therefore, all that’s left to learn is the conversion rate, and a trick for quick calculating in your head! So for most accurate results, multiply 5,000 by .0083, which comes out to $41.50 USD. However, the trick is, if you don't have a calculator on hand, move the decimal twice. It will be just slightly less than that number. So for 5,000 yen, it’s just a little less than $50 bucks. 

Lastly, It's important to know that Japan is still very much a cash society, so don't expect everyone to accept your card! More side notes, the after-tax price is what you see displayed. In Japan, it is required to show the tax-inclusive price. So don't worry about trying to add that in. It's a flat 8% if you're wondering, which will be increased to 10% in April of 2017.

There you have it, now you can ask how much something is, and know the response for anything between $10 - $90 USD. Don’t forget to say “Arigato Gozaimas!”

Four Most Common Japanese Greetings, Their Meanings, & When to Use

Many people know the word “Konnichiwa,” when they think of Japanese greetings. Unlike in the West, where we can say Hello anytime of the day to greet people, the Japanese have different customary greetings for each time of day that you should know. It’s also important to realize the importance of greetings in general. Whenever you arrive at a destination to see people, leave people, go home, leave home, go to work, leave work, go to school, leave school, greetings are always exchanged. If I leave work without saying goodbye to everyone, or arrive at home without saying a greeting, it isn’t considered rude at all. In Japan, this is disrespectful, so it’s important to remember. Without further ado, here are the four most common greetings!

Good Morning: Ohayou - おはよう

“Ohayou” is a casual way of saying Good Morning to your family and friends in the morning time. If you are speaking to your boss, in-laws, Senpai, or any other formal situation, you will need to add “Gozaimasu” (you don’t pronounce the u at the end so it’s “go-zai-mas”), to make the phrase “Ohayou Gozaimasu.” It’s also important to note that it doesn’t necessarily need to be morning time to use this greeting. For example, if you start your shift at work at 9 o’clock at night, when you get there, you will still say “Ohayou Gozaimasu” because it is the start of you and your co-workers day together. Anytime you arrive at work, it is highly important that you say “おはようございます” to greet each of your coworkers. As I discussed in the intro, if you walk into your home, leave your home, walk into work, leave your work and people are there you must say a greeting!

Hello: Konnichiwa - こんにちは

In the middle of the day, you will use “Konnichiwa” to greet people. If you are meeting with a friend for tea, when you arrive say “こんにちは.” If you pass a friend while walking your dog, say “こんにちは” to greet him or her. If it is a bit later in the day, but not yet night, you might switch it to “Good Evening” or “Konbanwa.” Neither Konbanwa nor Konnichiwa are considered formal or informal, but rather a standard fare greeting like “Hello” in English. However, you would not say either when greeting someone over the phone. Instead you would say…

Hello (on phone): Moshi Moshi - もしもし

Moshi Moshi! So kawaii sounding >.< This is the greeting you would use when saying Hello on a phone call. “もしもし、こちらは ケアラです” – “Hello, This is Kayla.” Moshi Moshi can also be used when calling out to someone, the kind of situation like “Excuse me miss - You forgot your purse!”

Good Night: Oyasuminasai - おやすみなさい

Lastly we have good night. It’s important to say good night to everyone just as it is to say good morning. When going to bed, you will tell everyone in the house that’s still awake “Oyasuminasai” (oh-yah-sue-mean-nah-sai). This is the polite version of Good Night. To say Good Night casually you will say “Oyasumi.” Nasai, like gozaimasu is added to some words to make them the polite form or Keigo. It’s important to know Keigo phrases in order to work in Japan.


Thank you for reading! I hope this little guide helped you. Of course there are many ways to greet in Japanese, these are just the most common. Their are short, slang, casual greetings too. If you'd like to learn those let me know and I will write a post on that next! Please subscribe by typing in your email at the top right corner and you will always know when a new post comes out. 

Arigato Gozaimasu <3

Guide to Japanese Name-Enders: How to Use San, Senpai, Kouhai, Chan, & Kun

If you have ever watched Anime or Japanese Dramas you may have noticed that everyone is always saying these strange words after a name. Maybe you were thinking that tons of people have the name “Senpai?” Nope. Actually, in Japanese culture there is a high importance set on hierarchically placement and respect. These ‘name-enders,’ as I will be referring to them as, are indications of a person’s age and skill level, and they also are used out of respect. To just say someone’s name plain without anything on the end is actually rude, and would be considered lowering that person (exception: extremely close friends will sometimes not add anything, but most of the time still will); adding an appropriate ending is respectful. In fact, the only time not adding one is necessary is when you are introducing yourself.   “わたし は カエラ です” (Watashi wa Kayla des). In the Japanese culture the focus is always on humbling yourself and raising up others. That aside let’s jump into the name-enders! I will be going over six, which are the most common: San, Senpai, Kouhai, Chan, and Kun.

San (さん):

San is a staple; if you can only remember one – remember San! San is neutral and polite, if you aren’t sure of their age, you have just met, can’t tell their gender, don’t think any other addition fits, or all of the above, address them as “____-San.” To make this more formal for a boss, boy/girlfriend’s parents, etc., you would say “____-Sama.” If you are addressing boy or girl teacher/doctor it would be “____-Sensei.”

Senpai (せんぱい):

Senpai is a gender-neutral term attached to a person who is either above your grade in school, or a workmate who will be working above you/ been at the company longer than you. We will use the name John for an example. John is a 3rd year college student and you are a 2nd year college student. How would you address him? John-Senpai. Now, let’s say you have been working part time at your job for the past 2 years. John gets hired at your workplace, and today is his first day. As you are training him, he will then actually address you as Senpai, and he will become Kouhai (explained next section). So as you can see, work experience and position comes before actual age. Senpai may also be used towards someone with a greater skill level than you in a particular field. For example, if your friend is an architect major and you recently switched to it, even if you are the same age/grade, you would call her/him Senpai.

Note: As you get to know your Senpai it can also be used on its own, and can be considered a term of endearment. “Senpai - will you help me with my project!?" Also, if you become close with your Senpai they may allow you to use different terms that show more of a closeness. However, even after graduation, some people will still address their older peers as Senpai even as time goes on.

Kouhai (こうはい):

Kouhai is basically just the opposite of Senpai. It’s a gender-neutral term for someone that’s lower in grade level, skill level, or career experience than you. Kouhai isn’t as commonly used as Senpai because it is more formal, while Senpai can be both formal and casual; often you will notice the Senpai calling the Kouhai by their name with San or Chan after it. This may also be that the new generation in Japan is more lax on the particulars of traditional social rules (as is the case with most cultures). Senpai and Kouhai kind of reminds me of “Biggs” and “Littles” in American Sorority Life, so you can think of it like that if you’re familiar with Sorority terminology!

Chan (ちゃん):

Chan is commonly used amongst friends, peers of the same age, Senpai to Kouhai, and towards little kids. It is most of the time gender-specific, referring to mostly females, but with younger teens and adults, when you are close to each other, males can be called chan. There’s really not a particular reason for this. It could be considered more endearing, fit someone’s personality better, or just sound cuter/better with certain names. If you’re just learning this, you can keep it to chan for girls and kun for boys, for simplicities sake; just keep in mind that it isn’t the end-all be-all and it will be used in reverse at times for whatever reason.

Kun (くん):

Kun is used for boys mostly either among peers, from senior to junior, or for male children. Teachers will call their students –kun, an older sibling would call their younger brother –kun, and male friends would do the same. Another little exception for this is that a girlfriend who is younger than her boyfriend, could still call him –kun out of affection. In very rare cases, girls who are tom-boyish or “gangsta” might call other female friends by Kun. Just in case you hear it and wonder, that’s what’s going on.

Well there you have it! I hope this little guide was useful. If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe at the top right corner by typing in your email. Feel free to comment any other less common name-enders and their meanings below! 

How To Say "I Love You" in Japanese

The first thing many people want to know when they start learning a new language is how to say those three little words "I love you." I'm sure it's no different for all of you with Japanese! Japanese is a beautiful language, and the expressions they use for this are very beautiful as well. However, the culture in Japan is much different than the western culture you may be used to; while the expression exists, it is very rarely used (contrary to English speaking countries), and is often omitted for an expression closer to "I like you." Therefore I will be teaching you both phrases - and the cultural background of how we arrive at saying one of these phrases!

The Japanese Character for Love: 愛 (あい)

The kanji for love is pronounced "ai" as  shown through the hiragana kanas above. When you combine the word love with "してる" or in romaji "shi-te-ru" (meaning the act of doing something) you get the phrase "愛してる" or "ai shi te ru." This means, in Japanese culture, a little bit more than just love. It means something more like "I am so passionately in love with you and I couldn't breathe without you by my side" so definitely not something you would toss out at a friend when they do something kinda nice for you. In fact, some married couples don't even exchange these words..

Culturally, in Japan people generally feel that saying I love you isn't as important as doing things to show their appreciation and love for their significant other. Rather than kissing goodbye and saying "I love you so much" three hundred times, a Japanese husband might clean the floors while his wife was out running an errand to show he loves her. He might buy a dress she has been wanting or bake her a cake. He will more than likely not ramble on about his affections though. So when do the Japanese say 'I love you'? 

こくはく (kokuhaku). Confession. In Japanese culture, there must be a confession of love for dating to start. This is that scene that we have all seen hundreds of times in different animes where someone leaves a note in the others locker to meet outside and exclaim "I love you!" Surprisingly, this really does happen in Japanese school life and even after that. How you would say I love you in this situation is "すき" or "suki." The 'u' is almost silent here so it's like the English word "Ski" pronunciation wise. This word means to favor/ like, so I am sure you can see where this is going.. To confess to a person you would say: けいら の こと が すき! - "Kayla no koto ga suki!" I used my name for example's sake, but replace it with whomever you fancy. ;) 

There you have it. Now that you know how to express yourself when the time comes, you can have one less worry about what to do when you meet the love of your life in Japan.

-愛してる-