Key Terms To Use At Japanese Hotels

Above, the main entrance to Tokyo's Shiba Park Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If one is planning a trip to Japan, now that it has been reopened to foreign visitors, there are a few key terms one can use at the Japanese hotel they're staying at.

The following has been presented in an article by the Japan Times.

They start it off with:

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.

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