March was the first full month where I was basically handling my job on my own. There were still plenty of things I didn’t fully understand, but each time I repeated my monthly tasks, they made a little more sense. One thing that helped me learn quickly was the timing—Japan’s fiscal year ends on March 31 and starts April 1, so March is chaos mode in most offices. Everyone is trying to close the books, finalize sales, and wrap up the year as cleanly as possible. That meant lots of overtime, tight deadlines, and me trying to figure out how to stay on top of everything.

Little by little, though, things started falling into place, and I felt more confident in my work. For this month’s post, I wanted to talk about something that confused me in the beginning but is incredibly important when working in a Japanese company: basic Japanese business vocabulary.

These are phrases you will hear every single day, and what you say changes depending on whether you’re talking to someone inside your company or outside of it.

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Inside the Company

「おはようございます」(Ohayou gozaimasu)

This one literally means “good morning,” but in Japanese companies, it’s more like a general “hello” when you see someone for the first time that day. You’ll hear it well past the actual morning hours in certain industries (like hotels or entertainment), but in most offices it’s just used earlier in the day.

「お疲れ様です」(Otsukaresama desu)

This is the inside-the-company phrase. It loosely means “thank you for your hard work,” but functionally it’s used like a greeting, a sign of respect, and a general acknowledgement.

You say it when:

• Passing coworkers in the hallway

• Starting a conversation

• Ending a conversation

• Leaving for the day

And in emails, it goes right after the person’s name. If someone from inside the company calls you, this is the first thing you say after confirming who’s calling.

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Outside the Company

「お世話になります」(Osewa ni narimasu)

This phrase is essential when speaking to anyone outside the company—clients, vendors, customers, business partners, etc.

It loosely means “thank you for your support” or “we’re in your care,” but the real meaning is more like:
“Thank you for doing business with us.”

You say it:

• When answering the phone

• When calling someone outside the company

• At the start of every email, right after their name

• And yes, even if they’re not your client personally—because they’re doing business with your company, not just you

Don’t forget to use 「様」(sama) after their name!

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Used Both Inside and Outside the Company

「宜しくお願いします」(Yoroshiku onegai shimasu)

This one is famously hard to translate because it’s such a Japanese concept. The closest English meaning would be “thank you in advance,” or “I appreciate your help with this,” but it’s used in almost every situation where you’re asking someone to do something—big or small.

You’ll use it:

• At the end of emails

• When asking a favor

• After explaining a task

• On the phone, in meetings, everywhere

It’s essentially the polite cushion that holds Japanese work culture together.

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Final Thoughts

These are just the basics, and of course the usage changes depending on the context—but learning these three core phrases will make a huge difference in how smoothly your workday goes inside a Japanese company.

Go to Part 3 | Go to Part 5

*Revised November 2025 for Grammar and Context