Learn Japan in 30-second reels
Real phrases for the konbini, the restaurant, the train — each with romaji and English, ready to use the second you land.
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The Ramen Guy Looks Up and Shouts a Question at You. You Have About Two Seconds.
sono mama de · Just as it comes, thanks.
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Your Legs Died Ten Minutes Ago. They Told You to Stop Kneeling at Minute Two.
dōzo, ashi o kuzushite kudasai · Please, sit however's comfortable. You don't have to kneel.
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Everyone Says You Must Ask Before Reclining on the Shinkansen. The Railway Says There Is No Such Rule.
seki, taoshite mo ii desu ka? · Can I recline my seat?
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Japan Doesn't Hand You a Napkin. One Word Summons It
tishu arimasu ka? · Napkin, do you have one?
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You Grabbed the Melon Pan With Your Hand. Everyone Saw. Nobody's Going to Say a Word.
tongu o otsukai kudasai · Please use the tongs.
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You're Eight Minutes Late. In Japan That Is Not a Little Late.
okurete sumimasen · Sorry I'm late.
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The Cashier Scanned Everything, Then Pointed Behind You and Walked Off. You Haven't Paid Yet.
achira de onegai shimasu · Please pay over there.
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The Crowd Won't Move for You. One Little Word Makes It Split.
sumimasen, chotto tōshite kudasai · excuse me, could I get through?
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Your App Taught You The Japanese Word For You. Nobody Says It To Your Face.
tanaka san · Tanaka-san. Use the person's name, not the word for you.
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You've Been Walking the Museum Backwards This Whole Time.
junro · the set route (follow the arrows)
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Four Minutes to the Last Train. Don't Ask Where. Ask This.
mada ma ni aimasu ka? · can I still make it in time?
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Two Date Stamps on Japanese Food. One Is a Suggestion, One Is a Deadline.
shōhi kigen · use-by date (the safety deadline)
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The Shop Looks Closed. That Curtain In The Doorway Is Telling You It's Open.
eigyouchuu · Open for business
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Japan Just Made a New Word for Hot Official. It Starts at Forty Degrees.
kokushobi · a brutally hot day, forty degrees and up
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Seven Bites on One Ankle. The Word That Fixes It Is Not Mosquito.
mushi ni sasaremashita · I got bitten by an insect.
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Your Tokyo Hotel AC Is Running and the Room Is Still Thirty Degrees. Read One Word on the Remote.
reibō · cooling mode
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If You Hear This Word Behind You, You're Standing In The Wrong Place.
jama · in the way, a nuisance
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The Yukata in Your Ryokan Room. Wrap It the Wrong Way and You Are Dressed Like the Dead.
gyaku desu yo · It's the other way around.
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Every Flower Shop in Japan Is Buried in These This Week. Buy a Bundle for Your Host and You Just Gave Them Grave Flowers.
shiragiku · white chrysanthemum
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Your App's Japanese for How Are You Is a Question You Only Ask After Months Apart.
o-hisashiburi desu · It's been a long time.
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You Finished the Cold Soba. That Pot of Cloudy Grey Water Is Not for Your Hands.
soba-yu · the water the soba was boiled in
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You Made the Last Train Back to Your Kyoto Guesthouse. The Front Door Still Won't Open.
mongen · the curfew, the hour the front door locks
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Every Line on This Japanese Menu Has a Price. One Line Has Two Kanji Instead.
jika · market price, whatever it costs today
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This Japanese Shop Is Lit, Open, and Completely Empty. It Still Expects You to Pay.
mujin hanbai · unstaffed shop, pay on the honour system
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Your Ryokan Looked Like a Bargain. One Word on the Booking Page Says Dinner Isn't Coming.
sudomari · room only, no meals
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You Stood Your Chopsticks Up in the Rice. In Japan You Just Set the Table for a Funeral.
hashioki, arimasu ka? · Do you have a chopstick rest?
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Two Stall Doors in an Old Japanese Station. Only the Kanji Tells You Which Is Which.
yōshiki · Western-style (toilet)
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Two Hundred People Are Waiting and You Can't See Where the Line Starts. One Sign Says Where.
saikoubi · the end of the line
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The Ticket Gate Slammed Shut on You in Tokyo. Two Kanji Fix It.
seisan · fare adjustment
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Everyone at the Shrine Is Tying Little Papers to a Rack. That's Bad Luck Being Left Behind on Purpose.
omikuji · a paper fortune drawn at a shrine
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The Waiter Came Back, Said One Short Phrase, and Is Now Just Standing There.
mada desu · not yet (I need another minute)
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Japan's Best Souvenir Is Hand-Painted While You Wait
goshuin · a hand-brushed shrine seal
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Your Train Just Got Cancelled. One Word Gets Your Money Back.
haraimodoshi dekimasu ka? · Can I get a refund?
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You Lost Your Wallet in Japan. The Odds Are Genuinely on Your Side.
saifu o nakushimashita · I lost my wallet
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Full Bars, Zero Internet. Here's Exactly What to Say.
tsunagarimasen · It's not connecting.
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You Lost Your Friend in a Festival Crowd. Japanese Has One Word for It.
tomodachi to haguremashita · I got separated from my friend.
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Money's In, You Can't Read a Single Button. This One Gets It Back.
torikeshi · cancel
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Japan Barely Has Public Bins. The Ones It Does Have Are Judging You.
moeru gomi · burnable trash
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You Walk Into a Japanese Clinic Sick. Reception's First Question Isn't Your Name.
shoshin desu · It's my first visit.
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Fourteen Exits, One Giant Map, and You Can't Find Yourself On It.
genzaichi · you are here (current location)
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The Konbini Clerk Asks You Something Before They Scan Anything. It's Not About Money.
pointo kādo wa o-mochi desu ka? · Do you have a point card?
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For Ten Days in August, Japan Deletes Every Unreserved Seat on the Bullet Train.
kisei rasshu · the going-home travel rush
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Japan's Mailboxes Have Two Slots. Your Postcard Home Wants the Vague One.
sonota · other / everything else
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There's a Barber on Every Corner in Japan. Ten Minutes, One Sentence, Done.
mijikaku shite kudasai · Shorter, please.
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You Loved That Ryokan. 'Thank You' Isn't the Word for Walking Out the Door.
osewa ni narimashita · Thank you for everything you did for me.
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Your Train Is On the Board and It Is Not Going to Stop. Two Kanji Warned You.
tsūka · passes through, does not stop here
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The Museum Closes at Five. It Stopped Letting People In at Four Thirty.
saishū nyūjō · last admission
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The Matcha Tin Is Six Thousand Yen and You Still Can't Buy Two. The Shelf Says Why.
o-hitorisama itten made · One item per customer.
Page 4 of 7 · 333 videos
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