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Shopping4 min read

Japanese for shopping: the register script, sizes, and how to shop tax-free

ReviewAnswered out loud

In a clothes shop · say it in Japanese

Ask whether they have this in black.

You said

Understandable

Correct Japanese? Yes

Sounds natural? Not quite

黒い色 says "colour" twice. As a noun, 黒 does the job alone.

More natural

AgainHardGoodEasy

Kiko suggests a grade and brings the natural version back until it's the one you say.

Right, but not natural — the gap no textbook marks. Kiko catches it on every card you say out loud.

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The shopping phrases you'll use most in Japan are (how much is this?), (can I try it on?), (by card, please) and (I don't need a bag). Price tags usually include tax, and nobody haggles.

Updated · 14 phrases, each with its reading and JLPT level

What you'll learn

  • The three questions every register asks
  • How Japanese sizes run, and asking for another
  • Tax-free shopping, and when to say so
  • Picking and wrapping souvenirs

At the register

The register follows a script, and knowing it makes the whole thing easy. Do you have a point card? ( — is fine.) Do you need a bag? (Bags now cost a few yen.) How will you pay? (.)

When you pay in cash, put the money in the small tray on the counter rather than handing it over. The change will come back the same way, often with the notes counted out in front of you.

Spot the mistake

3 slips almost everyone makes here. Can you catch them before Kiko does?

This is how a practice conversation in Kiko goes. Each learner line below has one mistake in it — the kind you won't hear yourself make. Tap the part you'd fix, and watch how Kiko marks it without stopping the conversation.

In a clothes shopKiko plays the shop assistant

1 / 3

Welcome. Looking for anything in particular?

Learner

Meant: No, I'm just looking.

Something's off. Tap the part you'd fix.

The basics

Enough to get through almost any shop.

  • JLPT N5

    How much is this?

    Prices are usually 税込 (tax included) on the tag.

  • JLPT N5

    By card, please.

    Answer to . 現金で for cash.

  • JLPT N4

    I don't need a bag.

    Bags cost a few yen now; staff always ask.

  • JLPT N4

    I'm just looking.

    Polite brush-off when staff approach; add ありがとうございます.

  • JLPT N4

    Let me think about it.

    The polite way to leave without buying.

Clothes and sizes

Japanese sizes run small: a Japanese L is often closer to a Western M. Try things on — shoes come off before you step into the fitting room, and in some shops you'll be handed a thin face cover to keep make-up off the clothes.

If something isn't quite right, ask for another size or colour rather than trying to negotiate. Haggling isn't done in shops in Japan; asking for something a little cheaper is the polite way round it.

Sizes, colours and fitting rooms

Swap the adjective or the colour to ask for exactly what you want.

  • JLPT N3

    Can I try this on?

    Shoes come off in the fitting room; a face cover may be handed to you.

  • JLPT N4

    Do you have a bigger size?

    Japanese L is often a Western M. 小さい for smaller.

  • JLPT N4

    Do you have another colour?

    names a specific colour.

  • JLPT N4

    Do you have something a bit cheaper?

    Never haggle in Japan — ask for a cheaper item instead.

Try it now · 30 seconds

Your turn. Answer Kiko.

Kiko speaks first. Answer out loud — really out loud — before you peek. Producing it cold is the skill a page can't train.

Welcome — have a look around.

You

Say: “How much is this?”

Shopping tax-free

Visitors can shop tax-free at shops with a tax-free sign: bring your passport and ask before they ring you up, not after. There is a minimum spend in a single shop on a single day.

Japan is changing how tax-free shopping works from November 2026, moving towards refunding the tax rather than taking it off at the till — check the current rules before you go.

Tax-free

Say it at the start of the purchase.

  • JLPT N3

    Can I get this tax-free?

    Usually needs a 5,000 yen minimum and your passport.

  • JLPT N3

    Tax-free, please.

    Say it before they ring you up, not after.

Souvenirs and gifts

Bringing back お土産 for friends and colleagues is a real custom in Japan, and shopkeepers love to help you choose. Gift wrapping is often free and beautifully done.

  • JLPT N3

    What do you recommend as a souvenir?

    Shopkeepers love this and will often explain at length.

  • JLPT N3

    Could you gift-wrap it?

    Often free and beautifully done; expect .

  • JLPT N4

    Is this made in Japan?

    Useful for knives, ceramics and crafts.

Practise it out loud

Reading a phrase and saying it with someone waiting are different things. In these scenes Kiko plays the other person and opens with the line below; you answer out loud, and Kiko marks what to fix without stopping the conversation.

  • Sizes and tax-free shopping

    JLPT N4
    Answer Kiko in this scene

  • At the tax-free counter

    JLPT N3
    Answer Kiko in this scene

  • Buying pottery in a kiln town

    JLPT N3
    Answer Kiko in this scene

  • Second-hand clothes in Shimokitazawa

    JLPT N3
    Answer Kiko in this scene

Questions

Can you haggle in Japan?
Not in shops — prices are fixed, and trying can make things awkward. Flea markets and some antique stalls are the exception. In a normal shop, ask for something cheaper instead: .
What does ポイントカードはお持ちですか mean?
Do you have a point card? — the shop's loyalty card. Visitors can simply say (I don't have one) or (I'm fine).
Do price tags in Japan include tax?
Usually, yes. Prices are normally shown including consumption tax (税込), sometimes with the pre-tax price (税抜) beside it in smaller print.

Now you know what to say

Here's why it still won't come out — and how to fix that

  • You read the phrase, nod, and forget it by the time you land.

    Review you say out loud

    The phrases you practise come back in spaced review — and you answer by speaking, not by flipping a card.

  • You know the line, but go blank when someone's actually waiting.

    Voice roleplay

    Kiko plays the other person — the waiter, the station staff, the ryokan host — so you say it out loud, with a reply coming back, before it counts.

  • The guide can't tell you what you got wrong.

    Corrections that don't stop you

    Say it wrong and the conversation keeps going. Afterwards, Kiko shows the exact particle or ending to fix.

  • Real people don't follow the script.

    Replies you didn't expect

    Kiko answers in natural Japanese and asks the follow-up questions real staff ask, so the second line doesn't catch you out.

  • Practice feels like a chore you'll drop after a week.

    No streaks, no guilt

    No streaks to lose and no nagging reminders. Ten minutes when you have them, and everything is still there when you come back.

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  • Spaced repetition you say out loud
  • A daily log that pulls out words and grammar
  • Grammar coverage against the JLPT lists

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