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Meeting people8 min read

Japanese small talk: the five questions everyone will ask you, and how to answer them

ReviewAnswered out loud

Meeting someone at a bar · say it in Japanese

Tell your new friend your hobby is cooking.

You said

Understandable

Correct Japanese? Yes

Sounds natural? Not quite

Grammatical, but textbook-stiff. In conversation, 私の and こと drop away.

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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Japanese small talk with someone you've just met usually runs the same way: where you're from (), whether it's your first time in Japan, how long you're staying and why you came. Answer briefly, ask the same question back, and keep it moving with reactions like and .

Updated · 33 phrases, each with its reading and JLPT level

What you'll learn

  • The order the questions come in, so you can prepare
  • How to answer and ask back, so it feels like a conversation
  • The reactions that make you sound natural
  • When to switch from polite to casual

The shape of a first conversation

The questions come in a predictable order, which is good news: you can prepare your answers. Where are you from? Is this your first time in Japan? How long are you here? Why did you come? What do you do?

Keep your answers short and add one detail they can pick up — not just but — then ask the same question back. That rhythm, answer and return, is what makes it feel like a conversation rather than an interview.

At some point you'll hear — your Japanese is good. The expected reply is modest: . Accepting the compliment outright sounds a little odd, even if it's true.

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.

At a barKiko plays a local

1 / 3

Nice to meet you! Where are you from?

Learner

Meant: I came from Seattle.

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

Introductions and the usual questions

The questions you'll be asked, and the ones worth asking back.

  • JLPT N5

    Nice to meet you.

    Casual version among young people: .

  • JLPT N4

    Where are you from?

    どちら is politer than どこ. Casual: .

  • JLPT N5

    I'm from America.

    Add the city: — invites follow-up.

  • JLPT N4

    Is this your first time in Japan?

    Use it on fellow travellers; locals will ask you this constantly.

  • JLPT N4

    This is my third time in Japan.

    〜回目 counts occasions; 初めて for the first.

  • JLPT N3

    How long are you in Japan for?

    んですか shows genuine interest rather than a flat question.

  • JLPT N4

    I'm here for about two weeks.

    ぐらい keeps it casual; 約 sounds written.

  • JLPT N4

    What brought you to Japan?

    The single best question for a traveller you just met.

  • JLPT N5

    I'm studying Japanese.

    Add and you'll get a warm reaction.

  • JLPT N4

    Oh no, I've still got a long way to go.

    The expected modest reply to .

Reacting like a Japanese speaker

Japanese listeners react constantly — small sounds and phrases called aizuchi that show they're following. Silence while someone else talks can come across as not understanding, or not being interested.

You don't need many. for news, when something makes sense, for anything impressive, and when you've been there too. Mix them, and don't worry about overdoing it: more is better than fewer.

Reactions

Most of these have a casual version for friends, noted under each one.

  • JLPT N5

    Oh, really!

    Core aizuchi. Casual: with friends.

  • JLPT N4

    Ah, I see.

    Shows you understood the point; avoid with much older superiors.

  • JLPT N5

    That's amazing!

    Casual: . Use liberally — enthusiasm is welcome.

  • JLPT N5

    Really?

    Casual: or just .

  • JLPT N4

    I know exactly what you mean.

    Doubling shows empathy; a single 分かります sounds flat.

  • JLPT N3

    True, good point.

    Casual register — great with peers, not with staff.

  • JLPT N5

    That sounds great.

    Use to accept an idea warmly before adding your own.

  • JLPT N5

    That's really cool!

    For things, styles and skills; かわいい for cute things.

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.

Nice to meet you, I'm Tanaka.

You

Say: “Nice to meet you.”

Work and hobbies

Once the travel questions are done, conversation usually turns to what you do. is the natural frame for a job, and lets you talk about what you do when.

  • JLPT N3

    What do you do for work?

    されて is honorific — polite for someone older or a stranger.

  • JLPT N4

    I work as an engineer.

    〜をしています is the natural frame for stating a job.

  • JLPT N5

    What are your hobbies?

    Softer: — what do you do on days off.

  • JLPT N4

    When I have time, I cook.

    Swap the verb; 〜とき is an easy way to sound fluent.

  • JLPT N4

    Your English is great.

    Returns the compliment you'll receive constantly about your Japanese.

Polite or casual?

With strangers, stay in the polite です／ます form: it is never wrong. If the other person switches to casual speech and seems to want you to, follow their lead — at a bar, among people your own age, that can happen within minutes.

Invitations are softened on purpose. (if you like) at the front makes an invitation easy to turn down, which is exactly what makes it easy to accept.

Making plans and keeping in touch

In Japan people swap LINE, the messaging app, far more often than phone numbers.

  • JLPT N4

    Is it OK if I sit here?

    Standard at counters and bars; a nod is your answer.

  • JLPT N4

    If you like, shall we drink together?

    よかったら makes an invitation easy to decline — much softer.

  • JLPT N4

    Want to exchange LINE?

    LINE beats phone numbers in Japan. Casual: .

  • JLPT N4

    Let's go together sometime.

    今度 is vague on purpose; pin it down with a date next.

  • JLPT N4

    Are you free tomorrow?

    Casual. Politer: .

  • JLPT N4

    What time shall we make it?

    〜にする = decide on. Also for the place.

  • JLPT N4

    Today was really fun.

    The natural thing to say as you part ways.

  • JLPT N4

    Let's meet again.

    The ね makes it warm rather than a formal promise.

  • JLPT N4

    I'll be in touch.

    Follow up on LINE within a day or two — it's expected.

  • JLPT N3

    I'll head off first — excuse me.

    Leaving a group before others; the reply is .

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.

  • Chatting with a local at a bar

    JLPT N3
    Answer Kiko in this scene

  • Talking to a fellow traveller

    JLPT N5–N4
    Answer Kiko in this scene

  • Evening chat with the guesthouse owner

    JLPT N3
    Answer Kiko in this scene

  • Exchanging LINE and making plans

    JLPT N5–N4
    Answer Kiko in this scene

Questions

Should I use polite or casual Japanese with people I meet?
Start polite, with です and ます. It's never rude, and if the other person switches to casual speech you can follow them. Starting casual with a stranger is the mistake to avoid.
How do I reply when someone says my Japanese is good?
— oh no, I've still got a long way to go. It's the expected modest answer, and you can follow it with a compliment back, such as if they've used some English.
Is it rude to ask Japanese people personal questions?
Questions about where you're from, your job and your hobbies are normal first-conversation topics. Age, relationships and money are better left until the other person brings them up.

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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