Say It Sushi › Irasshaimase Meaning: What Staff Say to You in Japan (and How to Answer)

Irasshaimase Meaning: What Staff Say to You in Japan (and How to Answer)

いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase) means “welcome.” It's the first thing you'll hear when you walk into almost any restaurant, shop, or convenience store in Japan, often called out by more than one person. The short answer to the question everyone asks: you don't need to reply. A small nod is plenty.

If you've wondered what Japanese restaurants say when you enter, and what the staff say after that, this page is about the Japanese you hear, not the Japanese you say. It covers where irasshaimase comes from, how to respond to it, and the lines the waiter or cashier is likely to say next. For each line you'll see what it means, what it can sound like at full speed, other ways staff phrase it, and the simplest answer. For the phrases you say yourself, from ordering to paying, see Japanese restaurant phrases.

A note on audio: the phrase cards and the game use a synthetic voice (VOICEVOX), not recordings of real staff. The game drills the short answers you give, so use this page as your listening guide, and expect real staff to sound faster and less clear than any recording.

What Does Irasshaimase Mean?

Irasshaimase is a very polite way of saying “please come in.” In practice it works like “Welcome!” or “Hi, come on in.” Staff say it the moment a customer comes through the door. It isn't a question, and it isn't meant to start a conversation. It tells you, and the rest of the staff, that you've been noticed.

Why does everyone call it out?

At many restaurants, especially busy chains, izakaya, and ramen shops, one person calls out irasshaimase and others in the kitchen or behind the counter repeat it. It's one way the whole team knows a customer has arrived. It can feel like a lot the first time. It's normal, and nobody expects you to react to each voice.

Where you'll hear it

Restaurants and cafés, convenience stores (konbini), supermarkets, department stores, and clothing shops. Some shops add a time-of-day greeting: irasshaimase, konnichiwa during the day, or irasshaimase, konbanwa in the evening.

Irasshai: the casual version

いらっしゃい (irasshai) is the shorter, friendlier form. You may hear it at small family-run restaurants, sushi counters, izakaya, and market stalls. Friends welcoming you into their home may say it too, or よく いらっしゃいました (yoku irasshaimashita), “So glad you could come.”

In English you'll see it spelled irasshaimase, irashaimase, or irrashaimase. They're all the same word. It's usually written in hiragana: いらっしゃいませ.

Listen for: when it's called across a busy room, the first i often drops out, so what reaches you is “rasshaimase!” or a stretched-out “rasshaimaseee.” At a lively izakaya or fish market it may be just “rasshai!”, and a hurried cashier can blur it into something like “shassē.” It's all the same word. If a burst of voices follows the door opening, that's it.

• こんにちはkonnichiwa · Hello▶ Listen
• こんばんはkonbanwa · Good evening▶ Listen

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Where the Word Comes From: Irassharu + Mase

The word has two parts.

So irasshaimase is roughly “please, honored guest, come in,” with politeness built in twice: once in the verb and once in the ending. Japanese dictionaries trace irassharu to iraseraru, an old honorific built on 入る (iru, an old word for “to enter,” not today's いる “to be”). Irasshaimase itself shows up in print by the late 1700s. Today nobody hears it that literally. To Japanese ears it simply means “welcome.”

Why this matters for you: staff speak up, you don't have to

Shop and restaurant staff in Japan speak to customers in keigo, respectful language. You'll hear it in honorific verbs like irassharu, in the お (o) and ご (go) added to words about you or things done for you (go-chūmon, “your order”; o-tsuke shimasu, “I'll add it for you”), and in さま (sama) on words for you: nanmei-sama, roughly “how many honored guests.”

You don't need to answer in keigo. Plain polite Japanese, ending in です (desu) or ます (masu), is exactly right for a customer. Honorific words like irassharu and sama are for other people, never for yourself. So if staff ask nanmei-sama de irasshaimasu ka, an extra-polite “How many are in your party?”, the answer is still simply ふたりです (futari desu), “Two of us.”

Listen for: sama and the o/go prefixes. They're a sign the sentence is about you or for you, and often that a question for you is coming.

• ひとりですhitori desu · Just me (party of one)▶ Listen
• ふたりですfutari desu · Two of us (party of two)▶ Listen

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How to Respond to Irasshaimase

You don't need to say anything. Irasshaimase is a greeting that isn't expected to get an answer, and many Japanese customers walk in without replying. Staying quiet is not rude.

If you'd like to acknowledge it, any of these is fine:

What not to say

Don't say irasshaimase back. It's the shop's line, so returning it can sound like you work there. It's a harmless mix-up, but easy to avoid.

When you do need to speak

The greeting itself needs no reply, but the next step might. If no one comes to seat you, catch a staff member's eye and say すみません (sumimasen), “Excuse me,” then your number: sumimasen, futari desu. Some restaurants have you write your name on a list by the door, or buy a meal ticket from a machine before you sit down. For the walk-in step by step, see Japanese restaurant phrases.

Listen for: the second line. Right after irasshaimase, the real question usually follows: nanmei-sama desu ka, “How many people?” That one you do answer.

• すみませんsumimasen · Excuse me! (to call the staff)▶ Listen
• こんにちはkonnichiwa · Hello▶ Listen
• こんばんはkonbanwa · Good evening▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Do You Need to Answer? Listen to the Last Word

Staff talk fast and politely, and you won't catch every word. You don't have to. In Japanese, the end of a sentence tells you what kind of sentence it is, so the last word or two is usually enough to know whether you're expected to answer.

Most questions staff ask can be answered with はい (hai, yes) or いいえ (iie, no), so those two words go further than you'd expect. In quick or casual speech, the final ka is sometimes dropped and the question is carried by the voice going up at the end: “o-hitori-sama?” If it rises, it's a question.

If you didn't catch it

Asking again is completely normal, and staff are used to it.

Pointing at the menu or showing the Japanese on your phone works too. For more ways through a stuck moment, see the last section of Japanese restaurant phrases.

• はいhai · Yes▶ Listen
• いいえiie · No▶ Listen
• もう いちど おねがいしますmō ichido onegaishimasu · Once more, please (say it again)▶ Listen
• ゆっくり おねがいしますyukkuri onegaishimasu · Slowly, please▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Getting Seated: Nanmei-sama desu ka?

These come in your first minute, roughly in this order. The “What you might hear” column shows how the line can sound at full speed, plus other ways staff say the same thing.

Staff often count people with 名 (mei), as in ni-mei-sama, “two people.” You can answer with futari desu or with ni-mei desu. Both work, and so do fingers.

Listen for: nan (“how many”) at the start. If you hear “nanmei…” or even just “nan…” with a glance at your group, it's the head count.

• ひとりですhitori desu · Just me (party of one)▶ Listen
• ふたりですfutari desu · Two of us (party of two)▶ Listen
• はいhai · Yes▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Ordering and Waiting: O-kimari desu ka?

Once you're seated, the waiter's phrases are mostly about your order. You'll hear these at sit-down restaurants. At places where you order on a tablet or buy a meal ticket first, you'll hear fewer of them.

You'll also hear dishes announced as kochira, ___ ni narimasu, “This is your ___.” It's just a polite way to say “here's your ___.”

Listen for: kimari (decided) and yoroshii (all right). If you catch either one, you're being asked a yes-or-no question about your order.

• はいhai · Yes▶ Listen
• いいえiie · No▶ Listen
• これ おねがいしますkore onegaishimasu · This one, please▶ Listen
• すみませんsumimasen · Excuse me! (to call the staff)▶ Listen
• ありがとう ございますarigatō gozaimasu · Thank you (polite)▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Paying and Leaving: Arigatō Gozaimashita

At the register, numbers come fast. The good news: at most registers the total is shown on a display, so you can read it instead of hearing it. At small places with no display, it's fine to ask them to show you: point to your phone's calculator, or say sumimasen, mō ichido onegaishimasu.

You'll hear ___ ni narimasu and ___-en kara o-azukari shimasu all the time, but not every Japanese speaker loves them. In the Agency for Cultural Affairs' 2002 survey on the Japanese language, 50.6% of respondents said “o-kaikei no hō, ichiman-en ni narimasu” bothered them, and 45.2% said the same about “sen-en kara o-azukari shimasu.” For you, they're simply signals: narimasu means here's your food or your total, and azukari means they've taken your money and change is coming.

Arigatō gozaimashita is the bookend to irasshaimase: one when you come in, one when you leave. Neither needs an answer. If you enjoyed the meal, this is the moment for ごちそうさまでした (gochisōsama deshita) on your way out. For paying by card, splitting the bill, and receipts, see how to say “check, please” in Japanese.

Listen for: en (yen) at the end of a number. When you hear it, look at the display.

• いっしょで おねがいしますissho de onegaishimasu · All together, please (pay as one group)▶ Listen
• べつべつで おねがいしますbetsubetsu de onegaishimasu · Separate checks, please▶ Listen
• ごちそうさまでしたgochisōsama deshita · Thanks for the meal (after eating)▶ Listen
• はいhai · Yes▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Beyond Restaurants: Irasshaimase at Convenience Stores and Shops

You'll hear irasshaimase at almost any konbini (convenience store), and the same rule applies: no reply needed. The cashier will usually ask a few quick yes-or-no questions while ringing you up.

“Daijōbu desu”: the polite no

You'll often hear Japanese customers turn things down with だいじょうぶです (daijōbu desu), literally “I'm fine.” It's a soft “no, thank you.” Because it can sound like “yes, that's fine” out of context, adding a small head shake, or using a clear iie, avoids any mix-up.

Clothing shops and department stores

Staff in clothing shops may call out irasshaimase several times as you browse, sometimes to the whole floor. It still needs no reply. If a clerk asks nanika o-sagashi desu ka, “Looking for anything?”, you can say miteru dake desu, “Just looking,” or simply smile and nod.

Listen for: the verb right before ka. Atatame-masu ka (heat), o-tsuke shimasu ka (add), go-riyō desu ka (use). Catch that one word and you know the question.

• はいhai · Yes▶ Listen
• いいえiie · No▶ Listen
• てんないで おねがいしますtennai de onegaishimasu · For here, please (eating in)▶ Listen
• もちかえりで おねがいしますmochikaeri de onegaishimasu · To go, please▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

FAQ

More sushi-bar Japanese

• Japanese Restaurant Phrases: What to Say From the Door to the Check
• How to Say “Check, Please” in Japanese: Paying at a Restaurant
• How to Order Sushi in Japanese (and Practice Before You Go)

Audio is synthesized with VOICEVOX (voice: 冥鳴ひまり), not a recording of a native speaker. Romaji uses macrons for long vowels (ō, ū).