Kyoto –

日本へようこそ！ (Nihon e yōkoso, Welcome to Japan!) ... or, should we say, Welcome back to Japan!

With borders having just reopened to independent travel, there is bound to be a rush of people who are dying to get back into the country. One thing that unites all these inbound travelers? Hotels.

Beyond the commute from airport to lodging, communications with the staff at ホテル (hoteru, hotels) and 旅館 (ryokan, Japanese inns) are likely to provide your first encounter with the Japanese language.

Even those who’ve been studying the language can sometimes find themselves stumped by the 敬語 (keigo, honorific language) used at such establishments. (Don’t freak out, though, many hotel staff speak languages other than Japanese.) Even if you answer in the affirmative when asked, 日本語でよろしいでしょうか (Nihongo de yoroshii deshō ka?, Are you OK with [using] Japanese?), there may be a few terms that catch you off guard.

Every hotel is different. ホテルの雰囲気次第で、堅苦しい敬語を使う場合もありますし、丁寧でフレンドリーな場合もあります (Hoteru no fun’iki shidai de, katakurushii keigo mo tsukau baai mo arimasu shi, teinei de furendorīna baai mo arimasu, Depending on the hotel’s atmosphere, there are cases in which they use formal honorifics or cases in which they’re polite yet friendly). Learning a few set phrases, however, will aid you in most 接客 (sekkyaku, customer service) interactions.

In an attempt to provide the best おもてなし (omotenashi, hospitality), you should expect to be asked a lot of questions. After the standard いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase, welcome) greeting that you hear in most commercial establishments (you don’t have to answer back), a bellhop may say to you, お荷物はこちらでお預かり致します (O-nimotsu wa kochira de o-azukari itashimasu, We will keep your luggage here).

This statement is a treasure trove of basic honorifics. You’ll see the honorific particle お (o), which is sometimes written with the kanji 御. That kanji can also be pronounced as ご (go).

While there are no hard-and-fast rules for which one is used, generally speaking, お is used for 和語 (wago, words of Japanese origin) like お箸 (o-hashi, chopsticks) or お水 (o-mizu, [a glass of] water).

Common exceptions include daily life activities such as お食事 (o-shokuji, your meal) or お電話 (o-denwa, your telephone call). You may have heard the phrase お電話ありがとうございます (o-denwa arigatō gozaimasu, Thank you for your call) when calling the hotel to make reservations.

ご is generally used for 漢語 (kango, words of Chinese origin). Common examples include ご住所 (go-jūsho, your address) or ご注文 (go-chūmon, your order [at a restaurant]). You’re also likely to hear it in the term ごゆっくりどうぞ (go-yukkuri dōzo), which translates along the lines of “enjoy your stay.”

A fair share of Japanese verbs have honorific and humble versions that have the effect of placing the speaker at a lower level than who they are speaking to. As seen in the bellhop’s statement above, the more humble 致す (itasu, to do) is used in place of する (suru, to do). The verb 預かる (azukaru, to look after) doesn’t have an alternate version, so to make the statement appropriately polite you need to use what’s called the masu-stem form (thus turning it into a noun), add the honorific “お” particle to the front and then attach 致す on the end. For example, 預かり becomes お預かり, then お預かり致します. This literally means, “I will humbly do the taking care of this.” (You may also hear お預かりします in shops when the cashier takes your money from you. Even though the cashier uses the less humble verb する, the statement is still appropriately polite.)

Now, you’ve made it past the bellhop and to the フロント (furonto, check-in counter). After being thanked for your patronage with お越し頂きありがとうございます (o-koshiitadaki arigatō gozaimasu), tell the staff that you have a reservation: 予約がありますが... (Yoyaku ga arimasu ga ..., There’s a reservation... ). The trailing off of が (ga) is classic Japanese politeness. The listener should intuit from your response that you would like to check in.

The フロントクラーク (furonto kurāku, hotel clerk) may respond with かしこまりました (kashikomarimashita), a politer version of 分かりました (wakarimashita, understood).They should then follow up with, お名前をお伺いしてもよろしいでしょうか (O-namae o o-ukagai shite mo yoroshī deshō ka?, Would it be possible to ask your name, please?) Respond simply with your name, followed by です (desu, to be): ジョーンズです (Jōnzu desu, I’m Jones).

The clerk will then confirm your reservation details: ご予約の確認をお願い致します (Go-yoyaku no kakunin o o-negai itashimasu, I’d like to confirm your reservation). 本日から２泊ご宿泊の３名様で、ツインルームで、ジョーンズ様でしょうか? (Honjitsu kara ni-haku go-shukuhaku no sanmei-sama de, tsuinrūmu de, Jōnzu-sama deshō ka?, From today, for two nights, with three people in a twin room for Jones, is that right?) To confirm the accuracy of that information, reply with a simple そうです (sō desu, that’s right).

Finally, the front desk staff should tell you your room number: ジョーンズ様のお部屋は５０２号室です。鍵をお渡し致します (Jōnzu-sama no o-heya wa go-maru-ni gōshitsu desu. Kagi o o-watashi itashimasu, Ms. Jones’ room is room number 502. I’ll pass you the key). まる (Maru, circle) is often used for “0” when saying longer numbers.

If a bellhop takes you to your room, they may want to give you a tour of the hotel along the way, saying, 当ホテルの簡単なご案内をさせて頂きます (Tō-hoteru no kantanna go-annai o sasete itadakimasu, Let me give you a simple overview [of the facilities]).

In this example, the kanji 当 (tō, this) has been added to ホテル instead of using この (kono, this). It can also be used to replace その (sono, that), with common examples being 当ホテル (tō-hoteru, this hotel) or 当店 (tō-ten, this shop).

In addition to the polite noun-plus-itasu structure mentioned earlier, the continuous verb ending ~ています (-te imasu, -ing) might be changed to ~ております (-te orimasu, -ing).

Now to your room: お部屋にご案内致します (O-heya ni go-annai itashimasu, [Let me] show you to your room).

On the way to your room, ございます (gozaimasu, to be/exist), the polite form of both ある (aru, to exist [inanimate objects]) and いる (iru, to exist [living things]), will be used to indicate any available facilities. So when you ask where something is, expect to hear ございます in the reply: 自動販売機は階段の隣にございます (jidōhanbaiki wa kaidan no tonari ni gozaimasu). The similar-sounding でございます (degozaimasu) is the polite form of です (desu, to be), so expect to hear that as well: 当ホテルの朝食は３階のレストランで、７時から１０時まででございます (Tō-hoteru no chōshoku wa san-kai no resutoran de, shichi-ji kara jū-ji made degozaimasu, Our hotel’s breakfast is served at a restaurant on the third floor from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.).

Finally, two good terms to remember are お願いします (onegaishimasu, please) and 結構です (kekkō desu, I’m fine). The former can be used in place of はい (hai), the latter in place of いいえ (iie, no).

And if all else fails, a timid 英語を話せますか (Eigo o hanasemasu ka, Can you speak English?) should get you out of having to remember any ホテル敬語 at all.