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Asking Directions in Japanese

Asking the way is the phrase set most likely to save an evening, and the trick is to ask a question you can understand the answer to. Doko desu ka invites a paragraph. Pointing and asking kochira desu ka — is it this way — invites a yes or a no.

Addresses in Japan are not sequential along a street, which is why even local people navigate by landmarks and by phone. Nobody expects you to find a place from the address alone. Showing a screen and asking is completely normal, and staff at a kouban police box exist partly to answer exactly this.

All 14 phrases in this section

Each one has its own page with the kana, the romaji, a literal breakdown of what the words actually say, and a note on when it fits and when it does not.

The rest of the phrasebook

All 337 phrases →