Learning Japanese Before a Trip to Japan: How Much You Need and a 4-Week Plan
You don’t need fluent Japanese to have a wonderful trip to Japan. Signs in big cities have English, trains are easy to follow and people are patient with visitors. But a little Japanese changes the trip: you can order at the small places with no English menu, ask a question when you’re lost, and turn a polite transaction into a real exchange. Here is how much Japanese is worth learning before you go, and a simple four-week plan to get there.
How much Japanese do you need?
| Level | What you can do | Time to prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Survival | Greet, thank, apologise, say “this one, please” and ask “how much?” | A few hours |
| Comfortable | Order food, ask about allergies, buy tickets, ask for directions and understand simple answers | About four weeks of short daily practice |
| Conversational | Chat with hosts, shop staff and people you meet about where you’re from and what you’re doing | Several months of regular study |
For most travellers, “comfortable” is the sweet spot. It takes a month of short sessions, and it makes the biggest difference to your day-to-day trip.
A four-week plan
Week 1: sounds and survival phrases
Learn how Japanese is pronounced: five vowels, even rhythm, no stress. Our pronunciation guide covers the basics. Then learn the ten phrases you will use every day: greetings, すみません (sumimasen, excuse me / sorry), ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu, thank you), これをください (kore o kudasai, this one, please) and いくらですか？ (ikura desu ka?, how much is it?).
Week 2: food and shopping
Restaurants are where Japanese helps most. Learn to ask for a table, order, mention allergies and pay. Our guides to eating out in Japan and convenience store Japanese have the phrases.
Week 3: getting around
Learn the words for station, platform, exit, left, right and straight on, and how to ask where something is. Practise numbers so you can understand prices, times and platform numbers. See Japanese for trains and getting around.
Week 4: talking to people
Prepare a short self-introduction: your name, where you’re from, what you love about Japan. People will ask, and a few sentences in Japanese go a long way. Our guide to introducing yourself in Japanese shows how. If you are staying at a ryokan, read up on ryokan and onsen etiquette too.
Should you learn to read?
Learning all of hiragana and katakana takes about two weeks of daily practice. It is not essential for a short trip, but katakana in particular is very useful: menus, shop signs and many food names are English words written in katakana, such as コーヒー (kōhī, coffee) or サンドイッチ (sandoitchi, sandwich). If you have the time, our two-week kana plan is a fun project before you fly.
Why practise with a person
Phrasebooks and apps teach you what to say. The hard part on the trip is understanding what comes back. Staff in Japan speak quickly and use polite set phrases you won’t find in most beginner apps, like 店内でお召し上がりですか？ (tennai de omeshiagari desu ka?, will you be eating in?). A few lessons with a native tutor, practising role plays at a restaurant, a station and a hotel, prepare you for the real thing far better than reading alone. Even three or four lessons before you go can make a noticeable difference.
On the trip
- Start every request with すみません. It gets attention politely.
- Don’t worry about mistakes. People appreciate the effort, and most will help you along.
- If you don’t understand, say もう一度お願いします (mō ichido onegai shimasu, once more, please) or ゆっくりお願いします (yukkuri onegai shimasu, slowly, please).
- Write down new words you hear. They will be the most useful ones for next time.
Many people come home from their first trip wanting to learn properly. If that’s you, our guide to how long it takes to learn Japanese is a good next step.