Business Japanese Conversation (ビジネス日本語会話) - JETRO

This aricle is for those who are studying the Japanese Language and are working or wish to work in Japanese companies or foreign capital companies in Japan.

Lets start with the basic introduction inside a company.

紹介する (しょうかいする) - Introducing Oneself

1. はじめまして(How do you do?)

Scenario :

ラオさんが取引先の人と話しています。

ラオさんは取引先の人に何をあげますか。

会話(Conversation) :

ラオ ： はじめまして。本田商事のラオと申します。よろしくお願いします。

松本 : 松本です。こちらこそよろしくお願いします。

ラオ : あの、これ、カナダのお菓子です。みなさんでどうぞ。

松本 : あ、すみません。

English :

Scenario :

Mr. Rao is talking to a female client.

What will Mr.Rao give her?

Conversation :

Mr.Rao : How do you do?I am Rao from Honda corporation.Its nice to meet you.

Ms. Matsumoto : I am Matsumoto. I hope we can work well together.

Mr.Rao : There are some sweets from Canada. I hope you enjoy them with your staff.

Ms. Matsumoto : Thank you.

2 . よろしくお願いします

scenario :

山田さんが上司と取引先に行きました。

取引先の人の名前は何ですか。

会話 (Conversation) :

渡辺 ： ああ、佐藤さん。

佐藤 : あ、渡辺さん、どうも。

渡辺 : 今度、うちの営業部に配属された山田です。

山田 : 山田ともうします。

渡辺 : こちら、山川物産の佐藤課長です。

佐藤 : 佐藤です。よろしくお願いします。

山田 : こちらこそよろしくお願いします。

English :

scenario :

Mr. Yamada is visiting a client with his superior.

What is his client's name?

Conversation :

Mr. Watanabe : Oh, Mr.Sato.

Mr. Sato : Oh, Mr. Watanabe. Hello.

Mr. Watanabe : (I'd like you to meet a colleague of mine.) This is Mr. Yamada.

She has just been assigned to our Sales Department.

Mr. Yamada : My name is Yamada.

Mr. Watanabe : This is Mr. Sato, the section manager of Yamakawa Trading.

Mr. Sato : My name is Sato.

Mr. Yamada :

3.がんばりたいとおもいます。

scenario :
山田さんがオフィスでスピーチをしています。
山田さんはどこから来ましたか？

会話 (Conversation) :
山田: 総務部から参りましたラオです。マレーシア人です。
入社してからずっと総務部にいました。
営業の仕事は初めてですが、がんばりたいと思います。
どうぞよろしくお願いします。

English:
Scenario:

Conversation:

Mr. 山田 : My name is Yamada, from the general affairs Department.
I am a Malaysian. I have been working at general affairs since I joined the company.This is my first time working in Sales, and I will try to do my best.
(I hope we can work well together.)

意思を表明する。 (Expressing One’s Intentions)

1. またかけます。

Scenario:

ラオさんが取引先に電話をしています。
ラオさんはこれからどうしますか？

会話：

取引先 :　 はい、ABC物産でございます。
ラオ　：　　本だ商事のラオと申しますが、
　　　　　　小林さんは、いらっしゃいますか。
取引先　：　申し訳ございません。
　　　　　　　だだいまべつの電話にでておりますが、
ラオ：　　　そうですか。
　　　　　　それでは、またかけます。　　
English:

Scenario:
Mr. Rao is calling a client.What will Mr.Rao do afterwards?

Conversation:

Client : Good Morning. ABC Trading.
Mr. Rao : (Hello).This is Rao of ABC Corporation.
(I ‘d like to speak to Mr. Kotoyashi,please.)
Client : I’m sorry.Mr. Kotoyashi is on another line at the moment.Mr. Rao : I see.I will call back later. Thank you. Good Bye.

1. 説明させていただきます。

Scenario:
社内で会議をしています。
ラオさんはどの資料から説明を始めますか。

会話：
同僚: まず、来月の展示会について検討したいとおもいます。
お手もとの資料をご覧ください。
えーと、スケジュールがかいてあるものです。
では、ラオさん、説明をお願いします。
ラオ：はい。では、説明させていただきます。

English:

Scenario:
An in house meeting is being conducted.
Which agenda will Mr. Rao begin with his presentation?

Conersation:

Co-worker : First of all, I’d like to discuss next month’s exhibition.Please take a look at the agenda (we have handed out), the one on the schedule.Mr Rao,(will You give us an outline of the schedule, Please?)
Mr. Rao. (Let me get started,) then.

Learn Hiragana And Katakana.

What is the history of Japanese hiragana symbols?

Japanese is believed to be related to the Ural-Altaic family of languages, that includes Turkish, Mongolian, Manchu and Korean. An early form of Japanese existed from about the 3rd century AD. However, it wasn't until later that the Japanese gained the ability to write. The writing system they began to use was Chinese, imported from China and Korea along with a variety of technologies, political systems and Buddhism. It remains in the form of kanji symbols. The difficulty of adapting the Chinese kanji symbols to represent the phonetic sounds of the Japanese language resulted in the two phonetic "alphabets" of simplified Japanese symbols called katakana and hiragana.

Both hiragana and katakana were derived from kanji. The first step in the development of hiragana was the appearance of manyougana (or kanji characters used to indicate pronunciation rather than meaning) in the 8th Century. Hiragana characters were created near the beginning of the Heian Period (794-1192) as simplified forms of whole kanji that conveyed sound rather than meaning. Hiragana was often used by women, who were denied the education in Chinese classics afforded to men and, as a result, Hiragana came to be known as onnade (or women's hand). Interestingly, this development resulted in the explosion of written expression among Japanese women that reached its zenith with Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) by Lady Murasaki

Hiragana-ひらがな

The first step is to learn the alphabet. Or, at least, the sounds that exist in the Japanese language. There are absolutely no "tones" like in Chinese, Thai, etc. and there are only 2 exceptions within the alphabet which will be explained later. The characters listed below are called Hiragana. It is the main alphabet for Japanese. The Japanese language also consists of Chinese characters (Kanji), which we will get into later, and another alphabet, Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words.

There are 5 vowels in the Japanese language. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "ohh". All Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only "consonant" that does not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".

か

き

く

け

ka

ki

ku

ke

ko

あ い 　　　 う　　　　 え　　　　　 お
a i u e o

か　　　 き　　　 く　　　　 け　　　　　 こ
ka ki ku ke ko

さ　　　　 し　　 す　　　　 せ　　　　　 そ
sa shi su se so

た　　　　　 ち　　　　　　つ　　　　　て　　　　　　 と
ta　 chi tsu te to

な　　　　　 に　　　　　　ぬ　　　　 ね の
na ni nu ne no

は　　　　　 ひ　　　　　　ふ へ　 ほ
　 ha hi fu he ho

　　 ま み む 　　　　 め　 も
ma mi mu me mo

や　　　　　　　　　　　　 ゆ　　　　　　　　　　　　 よ
　　 ya　　　 yu yo

ら　　　　　り　　　　　　る れ　　　　　　　ろ
　　 ra ri ru re ro 　

わ　　　　 を　　　　　　 ん
　　 wa wo n

Learn Basic Japanese Kanji

kanji
Kanji are the most popular Japanese script out of 3 writing. These characters are called "Ideographs", "Ideograms" or "Pictograms" in the world, because a Kanji Symbols, character express an idea, and represents meaning in a visual way.

For example, some kanji characters are developed like this:

You see, both the 'Sun' Kanji and the 'Tree' Kanji look like the things they represent.However, this is NOT always the case.There are some kanji which don't look at all like the things they represent.

Kanji Compound
Thoese pictorial Kanji that are mentioned above are Kanji characters which have meanings themselves. However, they can be also combined together and can be different Kanji characters. For example, by combining the 'tree' Kanji character together, Kanji characters will have the meaning of "Wood".



The stroke order for Japanese Kanji Symbols
To write Japanese Kanji Symbols, there are the basic rules to apply Kanji characters. There are some aspects of stroke order which plays an important role in the overall feeling of the kanji. For example, the kanji symbols for 'tree' is written like the following stroke order:

However, because of the increasing popularity of computers, a lot of Japanese young people, in fact, don't really care about this rule.

Japanese language contains more than 80,000 kanji symbols. Given below are some of the basic kanji you should learn.

(One)

(Day)

(Two)

(Moon)

(Three)

(Fire)

(Four)

(Water)

(Five)

(Tree)

(Six)

(Gold)

(Seven)

(Earth,Soil)

(Eight)

(Big)

(Nine)

(Small)

(Ten)

(Book)

(Hundred)

(Person)

(Thousand)

(Mouth)

(Tenthousand)

(Rice,Paddy Fields)

What's the difference between Japanese and Chinese Kanji?

Why Japanese Kanji look like the Chinese Symbols?
Historically, the Kanji Writing System was imported from China, but as time the time went by, kanji writing has evolved into a part of the Japanese Writing System by using the borrowed ideograms to indicate pronunciation.Although we use Kanji characters as much as Chinese people use, Japanese people use less Kanji characters comparing to Chinese people.

Even if you look at some of the Japanese culture, there are some adoption of cultural and religious materials from China too. For instance, Chinese herbal medicine is quite popular in Japan.

So, are they DIFFERENT?

Many Western people may be thinking that Japanese Kanji and Chinese Kanji are exactly the same. They look very similar. However, they are very different to Japanese kanji in structure.

Although the Japanese adapted Chinese characters into their langauge, they disregard the original meaning in Chinese.

Kanji Reading

Wtih Kanji, there are 2 ways of reading.


1. Onyomi Reading - It is Chinese Reading, and developed from the original Chinese pronunciation but as the time went by, the Japanese writing system has adaopted and became a part of the Japanese language. It is often used with the kanji compounds, and naming English names in Kanji.

2.Kunyomi Reading - It is Japanese Reading, and usually used with a single kanji character. For instance, if the following kanji is read, it is pronounced: "Ki" with Kunyomi Reading.

But, if it is combined with another Kanji character, it can be read differently with Onyomi reading.

Learn Basic Japanese Greetings and Vocabulary

Greetings in Japanese.

Greetings in japanese language are either 'formal' or 'friendly'. Talking in 'friendly' version of language in formal cases are not considered good. Though the vice versa is not true. Formal japanese can be used in friendly cases. Given below are all formal japanese language.

Greeting in English Greeting in Romaji Greeting in Hiragana

Hello

KONNICHIWA

Good Morning

OHAYOUGOZAIMAS

Good Afternoon.

KONNICHIWA.

Good Night.

OYASUMINASAI.

Good Bye.

SAYOUNARA.

Thank You.

ARIGATOUGOZAIMAS.

How are you doing?

GENKIDESUKA?

I am fine.Thank you.

GENKIDESU.

I am hungry.

ONAKA GA SUKIMASHITA.

Introduction in Japanese

English Romaji Hiragana

How do you?

HAJIMEMASHITE.

What is your name?

ONAMAEWA.

My name is Katsumi.

WATASHI WA KATSUMI TO IIMAS.

Relationshp in Japanese
English Romaji Hiragana

Wife

TSUMA.

Husband

OTTO.

Son

MUSUKO.

Daughter

MUSUME.

Girl-friend/Boy-friend.

KOIBITO.

Japanese Vocabulary

This lessons gives you some basic japanese vocabulary with some examples.
kon'nichi wa hello
watashi I, me, myself
desu am, are, is
anata You
Amerika-jin American (person)
Nihon-jin Japanese (person)
daigaku-sei college student
kookoo-sei high school student
Kon'nichi wa. Hello
Watashi wa Morita Akio desu. I am Akio Morita
Hajimemashite. Nice to meet you.
Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka. Are you an American?
Nihon-jin desu. I am Japanese.
Anata wa daigaku-sei desu ka. Are you a college student?
Watashi wa kookoo-sei desu. I am a high school student.

Basic Japanese Grammer

This japanese grammer lesson will give you details Japanese language, and begin to teach how exactly to formulate phrases and sentences to convey more complex ideas.
The main particles in japanese grammer are following:

wa(Hiragana "ha" is pronounced "wa" if it follows the subject)

Subject Marker

ga

Topic Marked

to

and

mo

too(similar)

wo(Pronounced as 'o')

Direct Object Marker

ni

Direction or Time Marker, Indirect Object Marker

e(Hiragana "he" is pronounced "e" if it follows a place or direction)

Direction Marker

Particles wa and ga: Particle wa marks the subject of the sentence. Particle ga marks the topic of the sentence. In the example, "I know where you live" (watashi wa anata ga doko ni sunde iru ka shitte iru), "I" would be the subject while "you" would be the topic.

Not all sentences have both a subject and topic and, in many cases, the subject is implied in Japanese (for example, the "I" (watashi wa) would be left out of this sentence because it is implied that since I am talking I am the one that knows where you live). Many Japanese books and teachers teach that "wa" and "ga" are the same thing and it doesn't matter which you use when. This is not the case but I wouldn't worry too much about keeping them straight at first.

Particle to: to is used for connecting nouns. Nouns combined with 'to' can then be used as a single noun in the sentence.Example: Noun1 to Noun2

Particle mo:mo indicates that there is a similar object to Noun.

Particle wo:The particle "wo" (or "o") marks the direct object of the sentence. In the example, "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru), "her" would be the direct object.

Particle ni:The particle "ni" can be used to mark the direction, time, or the indirect object of a sentence.
An example of a direction marker can be seen in the previous example "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru). In this case, the "ni" acts like a "to" - "I'm going to take her 'to' home".

Particle e: Particle e can be used in this as well but usually implies more of a general direction as opposed to a specific places.

The particle "ni" is also used to mark time in a sentence. For example, "I'm leaving at 3 o'clock" (watashi wa sanji ni hanareru).

The final use for the particle "ni" is that of indirect object marker. In the example, "I was taken home by him" (watashi wa kare ni ie made okurareta), "him" is the indirect object.

Introduction in Japanese
This chapter describes how to introduce one of your friends to other in a party.

Japanese Version
Tanaka: Konnichiwa.
Kimura: Konnichiwa.
Tanaka: Kimura-san, kochira wa watashi no tomodachi desu. Yamada Hiroko-san desu.
Yamada:Hajimemashite. Yamada Hiroko desu. Douzo yoroshiku.
Kimura: Kimura Ichirou desu. Douzo yoroshiku.
Yamada: Gakusei desu ka.
Kimura:Hai, gakusei desu.
Yamada:Go-senmon wa.
Kimura:Keizai desu. Anata mo gakusei desu ka.
Yamada: Iie, hisho desu.
Kimura:Sou desu ka.

English Version
Tanaka:Hello.
Kimura:Hello.
Tanaka: Mr. Kimura, this is my friend. This is Hiroko Yamada.
Yamada: How do you do? I'm Hiroko Yamada. Nice to meet you.
Kimura: I'm Ichirou Kimura. Nice to meet you.
Yamada: Are you a student?
Kimura: Yes, I am.
Yamada: What is your specialization?
Kimura: Economics. Are you a student, too?
Yamada:No, I'm a secretary.
Kimura: I see.