How do you say "Is it okay if we turn the seats around?" in Japanese?

Name: Two of Your Four Shinkansen Seats Face Backwards. Nobody Tells You What to Do About It.
Uploaded: 2026-09-05T18:06:13Z
Duration: 18 s
Description: Learn to say 席を回してもいいですか？ (seki o mawashite mo ii desu ka?) — Is it okay if we turn the seats around?. A 30-second Japanese lesson for travelers from Kōfuku.

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Two of Your Four Shinkansen Seats Face Backwards. Nobody Tells You What to Do About It.

To say Is it okay if we turn the seats around? in Japanese, say 席を回してもいいですか？ (seki o mawashite mo ii desu ka?).

Your group booked four Shinkansen seats and two of you are facing backwards. Nobody's going to tell you what to do about that.

席を回してもいいですか？ seki o mawashite mo ii desu ka? Is it okay if we turn the seats around?

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In this video

席を回してもいいですか？ seki o mawashite mo ii desu ka? Is it okay if we turn the seats around?
すみません、席を回してもいいですか？ sumimasen, seki o mawashite mo ii desu ka? Excuse me, is it okay if we turn our seats around?

Kanji in this phrase

回して: まわして
席: せき

Why this phrase

Shinkansen seats sit on a rotating base: there's a pedal at the foot of the row, and the cleaning crews spin every row at the terminus so the whole train faces forward. Passengers are allowed to do it too, which is how groups of four end up sitting face to face. The catch: the row behind you loses their legroom while it turns, so you ask them first. That ask is the phrase.