Opening a Telephone Conversation

In this lesson you will learn how to open a telephone conversation in Japanese. You will practice finding out if you are calling the right residence, asking if the person you want is home, apologizing for a wrong number, and asking the caller to hold on or identify themselves. Telephone conversations in Japanese follow predictable patterns, and mastering these set phrases will give you confidence on the phone.

もしもし、田中さんのお宅ですか。 — Moshimoshi, Tanaka-san no otaku desu ka. — “Hello, is this the Tanaka residence?”

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Dialogues (会話)

Situation 1 — Mrs. White receives a call at home

Romaji	English
Nihonjin: Moshimoshi.	Hello.
Howaito: Moshimoshi. Howaito-san no otaku desu ka?	Hello. Is this Mr. White’s residence?
Nihonjin: Hai, soo desu.	Yes, it is.
Howaito: Goshujin irasshaimasu ka?	Is Mr. White at home?
Nihonjin: Shitsuree desu ga, donata desu ka?	May I ask who is calling?
Howaito: NHK no Yamamoto desu ga…	This is Mr. Yamamoto from NHK.
Nihonjin: Shooshoo omachi kudasai.	Please hold on a moment.

Situation 2 — Mr. Turner calls Mr. Koyama’s house (wrong number)

Romaji	English
Taanaa: Moshimoshi. Koyama-san no otaku desu ka?	Hello. Is this the Koyama residence?
Nihonjin: Iie, chigaimasu.	No, it isn’t.
Taanaa: Doomo sumimasen.	Oh, I’m sorry.
Nihonjin: Iie, doo itashimashite.	That’s OK.

Situation 3 — Mrs. Greenberg receives a call from a Japanese woman

Romaji	English
Nihonjin: Moshimoshi. Guriinbaagu-san no otaku desu ka?	Hello. Is this the Greenberg residence?
Guriinbaagu: Hai, soo desu.	Yes, it is.
Nihonjin: Erizabesu-san irasshaimasu ka?	Is Elizabeth in?
Guriinbaagu: Watakushi desu ga…	Speaking.

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Key Vocabulary (語彙)

Romaji	Kana	English
moshimoshi	もしもし	hello (on the phone)
otaku	おたく	house, residence (another’s)
irasshaimasu	いらっしゃいます	is / are (polite — deferential form of imasu)
shitsuree	しつれい	rudeness; excuse me
donata	どなた	who? (polite form of dare)
NHK	—	Japan Broadcasting Corporation
doomo sumimasen	どうもすみません	I’m sorry, pardon me
sayoo de gozaimasu	さようでございます	that is correct (very polite)
chigaimasu	ちがいます	it’s different; no, that’s wrong
goshujin	ごしゅじん	(someone else’s) husband
okusan	おくさん	(someone else’s) wife
shooshoo	しょうしょう	a little bit (polite)
omachi kudasai	おまちください	please wait (polite)

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Grammar & Usage Notes

1. Opening a phone call with moshimoshi

Moshimoshi works exactly like “hello” in English telephone conversations. Use it when beginning a call or when you have a bad connection. In most cases the person who answers will say moshimoshi first. In some homes, the answerer may say their family name instead: (name) de gozaimasu — “This is the (name) residence.”

2. Confirming you have the right number

After getting an answer, confirm you are calling the right place:

(name)-san no otaku desu ka? — “Is this (name)‘s residence?”

The response will be Hai, soo desu or the more polite Hai, sayoo de gozaimasu (“Yes, it is”). If it is a wrong number, the person will say Iie, chigaimasu (“No, it isn’t”).

3. Asking for a person

To ask if someone is home, use the deferential verb irasshaimasu:

(name)-san irasshaimasu ka? — “Is (name) in?”

You can also use the relationship term: Goshujin irasshaimasu ka? (“Is your husband home?”) or Okusan irasshaimasu ka? (“Is your wife home?”)

If the person answering is the one you want, they will say: Watakushi desu ga… (“Speaking.”)

4. Polite telephone language

Japanese telephone conversations tend to use especially polite and humble expressions. Since the call is not face-to-face, politeness can only be conveyed through language — bowing, for example, does no good. Sayoo de gozaimasu is a very polite equivalent of soo desu. Shooshoo omachi kudasai is more polite than chotto matte kudasai.

5. Identifying yourself on the phone

It is appropriate to identify yourself by both workplace and name:

(workplace) no (name) desu ga… — “I’m (name) from (workplace)…”

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Practice Exercises (練習)

A. Production and Comprehension — Making a call

Make a telephone call and ask for the person named. Your instructor will reply with either Hai, soo desu or Iie, chigaimasu. Apologize if you get a wrong number.

Call and ask for:
1. Mr. Hara
2. Mr. Ono
3. Miss Takeda
4. Mrs. Ogata
5. Mrs. Yamada

Example: — Moshimoshi. Yamada-san no otaku desu ka? — Iie, chigaimasu. — Doomo sumimasen.

B. Production — Calling a close friend

Call a close Japanese friend’s house and ask for them by first name. Your friend replies.

Example: — Moshimoshi, (friend’s family name)-san no otaku desu ka? — Hai, soo desu. — (friend’s first name)-san irasshaimasu ka? — Watakushi desu ga…

C. Production — Identifying yourself

Call the instructor’s home. Identify yourself by stating your workplace and name, then ask for the instructor’s husband or wife. The instructor asks you to wait.

Example: — Moshimoshi, (name)-san no otaku desu ka? — Hai, soo desu. — (your workplace) no (your name) desu ga, goshujin / okusan irasshaimasu ka? — Shooshoo omachi kudasai.

D. Production and Comprehension — Checking responses

Call the instructor and ask for persons from the list below. Check the statement that describes what happened.

#	Residence	Ask for
1	Yamashita’s	Yasuko
2	Takenaka’s	Mr. Takenaka
3	Ueda’s	Mrs. Ueda
4	Okada’s	Kazuo
5	Suzuki’s	Mr. Suzuki

Answer options: (a) Instructor wants to know who you are, (b) Instructor didn’t understand, (c) Instructor asked you to wait, (d) Instructor is the person you asked for, (e) The person is not available.

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Cultural Notes

Using public telephones in Japan

Different types of public telephones are distinguished by color. Street booth phones are blue; semi-public phones in shops and public places are pink and red. All coin-operated public phones can be used for local and short-distance calls using 10-yen coins. Yellow and green phones are for long-distance calls and accept both 10-yen and 100-yen coins. Only green phones accept telephone cards (terehon kaado), which can be purchased in amounts of 500 yen or more.

How to use a pay phone: (1) Pick up the receiver, (2) insert a 10-yen coin, (3) dial the number. A call is limited to three minutes. On some phones, you can continue by inserting another coin before time runs out. Unused coins are returned.

Phone numbers are composed of three groups of digits. For calls within Tokyo, dial just the last two groups (seven digits). For inter-city calls, dial all groups in sequence.