If You Hear This Word Behind You, You're Standing In The Wrong Place.
To say in the way, a nuisance in Japanese, say 邪魔 (jama).
You stop to take a photo on a narrow Kyoto lane. Someone behind you says 「邪魔」. That is not small talk. You are physically in the way, and you have about two seconds to move.
Kanji in this phrase
- 邪魔
- じゃま
- 通ります
- とおります
Why this phrase
A Kōfuku and Hana role-play with real stakes. Kōfuku plays a tourist who has stopped dead in the middle of a busy lane to take a photo; Hana plays a local trying to get past with both hands full, who mutters 「邪魔」 as she squeezes by. This one is RECOGNITION ONLY: 「邪魔」 is blunt and rude, so a visitor should never say it, but they absolutely need to hear it and know it means you are in the way, move. Hana then models the polite version a tourist should actually use, 「すみません、通ります」. Hearing the word and not reacting is how a tiny moment turns into a genuinely annoyed local.
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More phrases like this
- You Booked Two Shinkansen Tickets. Japan Gave You Two Seats in Different Rows. · sumimasen, seki, kawatte moraemasen ka?
- The Konbini Clerk Asks You Something Before They Scan Anything. It's Not About Money. · pointo kādo wa o-mochi desu ka?
- Japanese Hotels Ask Every Foreign Guest for the Same Thing. It Is Not Your Booking. · pasupōto o onegai shimasu
- A Stranger in Japan Will Ask You One Question. Most Tourists Just Smile and Nod. · sugoku tanoshii desu
- "Sorry, We Are Full." In Japan That Is Not the End of the Conversation. · kyanseru-machi wa dekimasu ka?
- Your Ryokan Is a Two Thousand Yen Taxi From the Station. It Also Runs a Free Van. · sougei basu wa arimasu ka?
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- Someone Thanks You in Japan. The Word You Memorized Is Not the One They Use. · ieie
- Two ATMs on the Same Street in Japan. Only One Takes Your Foreign Card. · kaigai no kaado wa tsukaemasu ka?
- Everything at a Japanese Izakaya Lands on One Giant Plate. Nobody Tells You to Ask for This. · torizara o kudasai
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