How do you say "Open for business" in Japanese?

Name: The Shop Looks Closed. That Curtain In The Doorway Is Telling You It's Open.
Uploaded: 2026-08-22T10:37:56Z
Duration: 23 s
Description: Learn to say 営業中 (eigyouchuu) — Open for business. A 30-second Japanese lesson for travelers from Kōfuku.

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The Shop Looks Closed. That Curtain In The Doorway Is Telling You It's Open.

To say Open for business in Japanese, say 営業中 (eigyouchuu).

A tiny restaurant, no lights you can see through the glass, a cloth curtain hanging over the door. You walk right past because you think it's shut. It isn't. That curtain is the open sign.

営業中 eigyouchuu Open for business

Survival sign-decode #learnjapanese #japantravel #japantips #japanesefood #japaneseculture

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In this video

のれんが出ていたら、営業中です。 noren ga dete itara, eigyouchuu desu. If the のれん is out, they're open.
すみません、営業中ですか？ sumimasen, eigyouchuu desu ka? Excuse me, are you open?

Kanji in this phrase

営業中: えいぎょうちゅう
準備中: じゅんびちゅう

Why this phrase

Tourists walk past great little places every night because a Japanese storefront doesn't look open by Western rules. The 「のれん」, the split cloth curtain hung in the doorway, is the signal: hanging out means the kitchen is running, taken down and folded away means they're done. Pair it with the printed 「営業中」 sign and a visitor can read any shopfront in the country.