Japanese for travellers · The Tatami Room
A little Japanese.
A warmer welcome.
Order a coffee. Ask the price. Find your platform. A few useful words can make Japan feel a little closer.
Take a seat in Fumi’s Tatami Room. Watch Fumi’s short introduction, try three phrases together, then practise one small conversation at a time.
WATCH & PRACTISE WITH FUMI · 1:29
Useful Japanese
for Travellers
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Hello, I'm Fumi. Welcome to the Tatami Room: useful Japanese for travellers.
You don't need to learn everything. A few polite phrases are a lovely place to start.
Let's try three together.
To get someone's attention, say: すみません。 Excuse me. Try it with me: すみません。
When you're pointing to something you'd like, say: これをお願いします。 This one, please. Once more: これをお願いします。
Didn't catch what someone said? もう一度お願いします。 Once more, please. Listen again: もう一度お願いします。
Keep that first sound in mō a little longer. The bar over the vowel is your reminder.
Now choose a moment on the page: a train, a café, or checking into your hotel.
Read the phrase, use Listen or the slower playback when a Japanese voice is available, and try saying it aloud.
Save your favourites to My pocket in this browser. If you need a little help, tap Show Japanese so someone can read your screen.
Start with three phrases. Practise the little conversation, then take your time with the reply.
A little Japanese. A warmer welcome.
A little confidence, right now
Six phrases to take everywhere.
Listen, save a favourite, or tap Show Japanese to let someone read it on your screen.
Checking pronunciation audio…
Audio help & voice settings →Your easy way in
You know more words
than you think.
Japanese has borrowed plenty of familiar words. The meaning may feel familiar; give the Japanese sounds their own rhythm.
Small pieces. Useful sentences.
One word becomes a conversation.
Try these four building blocks. Listen to each complete example, then say it gently at your own pace.
Familiar is a starting point: バス is basu (bus); a bath is ofuro. インターネット is intānetto, with a long ā and a brief hold before to.
01 / Little lessons, real journeys
Where shall we go?
Eight everyday situations. Each has a small goal, a conversation and a question to try.
A small language pattern
02 / A little more confidence
Make the words your own.
Turn a card, build a question, and come back whenever you like.
Think of the Japanese, then reveal it. Cards follow your selected lesson.
Build a useful question
A pattern you can take places.
One minute: choose three phrases. Two minutes: listen and repeat. One minute: try the conversation. One minute: look away and remember a phrase.
A suggested routine, not a countdown. Take your time.03 / Listen for the little things
Let your ears lead.
Romanisation helps you read. Sound guides help you begin. Listening brings the words to life.
Five steady vowels.
Tap a vowel. Keep it short and clear, without a strong English-style stress.
For u, keep your lips relaxed rather than tightly rounded. For o, avoid the glide at the end of English “go”. The Japanese r is a light tongue tap.
How to read our sound guides
The lowercase hints are English approximations, not IPA, pitch-accent notation or a precise map of Japanese timing. Hyphens help you separate sounds; they do not always mark one beat.
oh-oh means a held “oh”, not two separate starts. [hold] means a brief stop before a doubled consonant. eh-eh can represent the long e sound often heard in words written with ei.
In polite endings such as desu and masu, the final u is often very light or devoiced. Our guides keep it visible; don’t force a loud “oo” or delete every u.
は as a topic particle is pronounced wa; を is pronounced o. Japanese also uses pitch patterns, which these hints cannot show.
Give long sounds their space.
A bar over a vowel—ā, ī, ū, ē, ō—means hold it for an extra beat. We retain familiar spellings such as eigo and kirei.
The extra a changes the word. The final n has its own beat. These are sound examples, not suggested ways to address a stranger.
The small っ creates a brief hold. Keep it in kippu and yukkuri. Tōkyō has four beats: to–o–kyo–o; Kyōto has three: kyo–o–to.
Your pronunciation player
Checking device voices…
Audio uses your browser’s Japanese speech voice. Voice quality and availability vary; some voices need internet access. It is a pronunciation aid, not a recording of Fumi’s character voice. This page does not listen to or record you.
04 / From practice to the journey
A little practice here.
A conversation out there.
The Fumi project brings travel and language help together. This page gives you useful Japanese to practise before you go and to show someone along the way.
If you already use Fumi, describe the moment: “I’m at a café and I’d like to order.” Here’s a short practice prompt you can copy to use in a conversation.
These lessons work on their own. Your saved phrases stay in this browser; they are not sent to Fumi.
Keep learning · Sources and useful next steps
Lessons and exercises on this page are original Fumi editorial material, informed by the Japan Foundation’s practical communication approach and official visitor guidance.
- Japan Foundation: Irodori Starter — longer lessons and native-speaker audio on the Foundation’s own site.
- JNTO: Japanese language for visitors
- JNTO: enjoying onsen respectfully
- Fumi railway guides — prepare for your journey.
Open the complete phrase reference · Onsen & Japanese culture