Kotoshi mo, o-sewa ni narimashita. Rainen-mo, yoroshiku onegai shimasu.” 今年も、お世話になりました。来年も、よろしくお願いします。
Thank you for your support this past year. I (we) look forward to a continued good relationship next year. You can use this phrase in your year-end call, mail, or conversation with clients, coworkers, and friends.
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Mendou kusai 面倒臭い
Troublesome, tiresome. This is made up of two words: Mendou 面倒 trouble, a bother, and kusai 臭いstink. As a suffix, kusai is a negative intensifier meaning “very,” “much like,” or “smacks of.”
Mendou kusai! 面倒臭い! What a drag! It’s too much trouble.
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Hisashi buri 久しぶり
After a long interval. It can be used with the mid-summer greeting.
暑中お見舞い申し上げます。お久しぶりです。 Sending you mid-summer greetings. It has been a long time!
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Annoying, gloomy, or depressing. Japan's rainy season lasts from June to mid-July. Due to the high humidity and temperature, people often use this phrase to express this season.
"うっとうしい梅雨の季節、お元気ですか？” (Utto-shi-i Tsuyu-no Kisetsu, O-genki-desu-ka) - During this gloomy rainy season, are you doing well?".
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Gojiai kudasai. ご自愛ください。
Please take care of yourself. (Literally: Please love yourself). This can be put at the end of an email (once in a while) when people might be vulnerable to sickness (during covid19, flu season, change of seasons, hot summer, etc).
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hou-ren-sou – a kanji acronym so it is the first kanji, rather than the first letter of three words: Houkoku, Renraku, and Soudan.
Houkoku (報告) means to report. Renraku (連絡) means to contact, inform, or give periodic updates. Soudan (相談) means to consult, talk over a matter, confer, or ask a person's advice. Think of it as micro-syncing with your boss or others in your working group. Read more about it here.
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Sakunen wa iroiro osewani narimashita.昨年はいろいろお世話になりました。
Thank you for being so good to me last year".
On more formal occasions, or with a client, this expression is inserted between the two phrases below.
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Akemashite o-medetoo gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.
Congratulations on the beginning of the New Year! I hope for your continued favor this year.
あけましておめでとうございます。 本年もどうぞよろしくお願いします｡
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Shikata ga nai 仕方がないThis is another ubiquitous phrase in Japanese meaning "It can't be helped." It's used to acknowledge accept of situations over which one has no control.
Shikata ga nai is often said to keep "a stiff upper lip" in the face of adversity, like "Oh well, we'll just have to take the next train (since we just missed this one)." or "It's terrible that our house was destroyed in the typhoon, but that's life." and "We'll just have to redo the presentation (because we were given the wrong data) but it can't be helped."
Sometimes the fatalist sentiment can sound like an excuse for not taking action to the Western ear: "They're clearly corrupt, but what can you do? Politicians will be politicians."
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Ganbatte! 頑張って (pronounced gambatte), gambatte kudasai, and gambatte ne!
This is a ubiquitous word/phrase in Japan, meaning something like “You can do it!” “Keep trying” “Go for it!” “Give it your best shot” “Keep plugging away” or “Make a push for it.” It is meant to be inspiring.
The polite form, gambatte kudasai, is also common, but translates and little more like, “Do your best.” And the informal form, gambatte ne, sounds friendly and more like, “Hang in there” or “Good luck!”
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Shinsetsuna omotenashi o arigatōgozaimashita.
親切(しんせつ)なおもてなしを、ありがとうございました。 Thank you for your kind hospitality.
Omotenashi article
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Onsha-no Yakushin-ni Kitai Shiteorimasu
御社の躍進に期待しております。 / Wishing (expecting) the best of luck for your company’s prosperity.
You can add this phrase to your Nenga-jō (New Year’s card) by adding 「今年の (kotoshi-no / this year)」at the beginning of the phrase. 今年の御社の躍進に期待しております。
You can also add this phrase to your Shochūmimai (Summer greeting card) by adding 「今年後半の (kotoshi kōhan-no / for the rest of this year)」 at the beginning of the phrase. 今年後半の御社の躍進に期待しております。
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O-machidou sama deshita
This expression is used when you want to express your appreciation to someone who has been waiting to see you. In English, this would be, “I am sorry to have kept you waiting.” This is often used at the restaurant when a server brings food to your table, or store clerk brings something to you after spending some time looking for things for you. You should use the more informal o-matase shimashita (more polite: o-matase itashimashita) among your friends and colleagues anytime someone has waited: a meetup when someone arrives before you, sitting down to eat and you are a few minutes behind others, you have someone on hold on the phone for 30 seconds, and so on.
おまちどうさまでした。（お待ち同様でした）
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Itsumo o-sewa ni natte orimasu.
Thank you so much. We are always in your debt. We introduced this below to thank someone at the end of the year. Here we are introducing it as a common way to begin an email to a client and anyone else who helps you in any way. Above is the humble (polite) form. The more familiar forms, Itsumo o-sewa ni narimasu or Itsumo o-sewa ni natte orimasu, are commonly used with colleagues one doesn't see every day -- for example, beginning an email or a phone call.
いつもお世話になっております。
One thing to note about many of these Japanese phrases that don't translate well across cultures is that the Japanese phrase often reinforces the interdependence of the relationship when the English expression used in the same circumstance does not. For example, we might start an email with "How are you? Thank you for your recent email." You are separate from me in the English sentences, whereas in itsumo o-sewa ni natte orimasu, by using sewa (taking care of, assistance) it implies that I am grateful for you assisting me and sorry that I am a burden on you. It reflects the assumption of interdependent, not independent, relationships, and puts that upfront before thanking the person for the email.
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O-tsukaresama (adding "deshita" is more polite)
The more formal version is Otsukaresama de gozaimashita. "Thank you for your hard work." It used when someone has just completed something that was hard or important. It's said at the end of the day as people leave work as a standard good-bye.
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O-makase shimasu.
I leave it up to you (or your discretion).
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O-isogashii tokoro お忙しいところ...
At a time when you are so busy... Short for o isogashii tokoro sumimasen or more polite o isogashii tokoro shitsureishimasu. The meaning is, "I'm sorry to bother you when you are so busy." It is a common way to begin an email or to say "excuse me" when stopping by someone's office. It's the thought that counts so using the English works too if you are communicating in English. Showing consideration for the other person is normal in Japan, so a lapse clearly communicates your lack of care about them.
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O-sewa ni narimasu
I appreciate your cooperation in advance or Thank you for your help. It is used frequently in the beginning of the meetings, emails, and phone calls and very useful as a starting phrase. You can use a variation of this phrase in your year-end letter to your clients to say Kotoshi-mo (This year again) Osewa-ni-narimashi-ta (past tense). as "Thank you for your support in this past year."
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Sumimasen
Excuse me for bumping you, for interrupting you, for asking directions, for entering the elevator before you, for receiving this gift from you, for not speaking Japanese, for having my car in your way while you ran a red light, etc.- VERY versatile. When in doubt, apologize.
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“KY” stands for kuuki ga yomenai, literally “unable to read the air”
An oblique, haiku-style of communication is possible in Japan because they are trained from an early age to use their “antennae” to stay on the same wavelength with others and to read or detect others’ unspoken thoughts and intentions through guess or conjecture. As well as paying attention to the context, Japanese are aware of subtle gestures or facial expressions that indicate what the other person is thinking or implying. People who are weak in this area are sometimes referred to as KY and thought to be “clueless” or mentally slow.
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Zansho o-mimai mooshiagemasu
Around August 7th or 8th, according to the old calendar, autumn begins, so midsummer is considered over. If one hasn’t sent a shochuu-mimai, then a late summer greeting, or zansho-mimai, can be sent until mid-September. It basically says, “Sending you late summer greetings. It appears that the heat of the summer continues. Please take good care of yourself.”
Formal version of the Late Summer Greeting: 残暑お見舞い申し上げます。まだまだ暑さも厳しい折、くれぐれもご自愛くださいますよう、お祈り致しております。 Zansho omimai mooshiagemasu. Madamada atsusa mo kibishii ori, kureguremo gojiai kudasaimasuyoo, oinori itashite orimasu.
Less formal version of the Late Summer Greeting: 残暑お見舞い申し上げます。まだまだ暑さも続きそうです。どうぞお体を大切に。Zansho omimai mooshiagemasu. Madamada atsusa mo tsuzuki soo desu. Doozo okarada o taisetsuni.
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Shochu o-mimai mooshiagemasu
About the middle of July, the rainy season begins to wind down, the temperature goes up and the humidity lingers in Japan. It can feel downright unbearable and, indeed, people often suffer illnesses at this time.
To show concern for one's family, friends, and customers, it’s been traditional to send shochuu-mimai, mid-summer greeting postcards at this time of year. These cards inquire after the person's health and depict a cool or calming scene to give the receiver a sense of relief from the heat. They often begin with a comment about how hot it is and how the sender hopes the receiver is staying healthy despite the oppressive heat and humidity.
Formal version the midsummer greeting: 暑中お見舞い申し上げます。暑さ厳しき折ですが、くれぐれもご自愛くださいますよう、お祈り致しております。 Shochu omimai mooshiagemasu. Atsusa kibishikiori desuga, kureguremo gojiai kudasaimasuyoo, oinori itashite orimasu.
Less formal version of the midsummer greeting: 暑中お見舞い申し上げます。毎日暑い日が続いておりますが、ぞうぞお体を大切にお過ごしください。Shochu omimai mooshiagemasu. Mainichi atsuihiga tsuzuiteorimasuga, doozo okarada o taisetsuni osugoshikudasai.
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Yoroshiku!
In Japanese, Yoroshiku onegai mooshi agemasu (宜しくお願い申し上げます) or slightly less formal Douzo yoroshiku onegai itashimasu (どうぞ宜しくお願いたします) has no good English equivalent. It means something like: "I hope you will look upon our relationship favorably." It is, however, an important phrase that is frequently used to emphasize the importance of the relationship.
You might, therefore, consider using the Japanese for this as it carries the right sentiment better than any substitute. Using the actual Japanese words for terms that don’t translate well into English ensures that you convey the feeling and respect they are used to.
This phrase is used when meeting someone for the first time, when parting with someone important to you or to whom you have made a request, and at the end of an email. The more informal, Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu (どうぞ宜しくお願します), Douzo yoroshiku (どうぞ宜しく) and even just yoroshiku (宜しく) are used among close acquaintances and in very informal situation or from someone of higher status to lower status.
Need some help in pronunciation? Check out this video. Vowels are consistent throughout pronunciation.
