Japanese Phone Etiquette: Essential Phrases for Calling in Japanese

Picture this: you need to call a doctor’s office in Japan to make an appointment, and the moment someone picks up, your mind goes completely blank. No facial expressions to read, no time to think, and the other person is already speaking in polished keigo at full speed. Phone calls in Japanese are famously nerve-wracking — even for intermediate learners who can hold a face-to-face conversation with confidence. The good news? Phone calls in Japan follow very predictable scripts. Once you learn the key phrases and understand the etiquette, you will know exactly what to say at every stage of the call.

Starting a Call: もしもし and How to Introduce Yourself

The first five seconds of a phone call set the tone for everything that follows. In Japanese, there are two very different ways to open a call depending on who you are calling.

もしもし (moshi moshi) is the classic Japanese phone greeting. When you pick up the phone or dial a friend, もしもし signals that you are on the line and ready to talk. It is warm and informal. However, note that using もしもゃい in a business context sounds out of place — you would not answer a work call with it. For business calls, the standard opening is your company name followed by はい (hai).

Introducing yourself: two registers

申します (moushimasu) is the humble form of 言います (iimasu, “to say/call”). Using it to refer to your own name is standard keigo — it shows humility without being over-the-top.

Asking for the person you want to speak to:

The key difference: いますか (imasu ka) is polite but neutral. いらっしゃいますか (irasshaimasu ka) is the honorific form of います and elevates the listener — use it whenever you are calling a company or asking for someone you want to show respect to.

Yuka

もしもし、ヨウこちゃんいる？レイくんに携帯をかりたいんだけど。

Rei

あ、ユカほど！ちょっと待ってね。

Yuka: “Hello? Is Yoko there? I want to borrow Rei’s phone.”
Rei: “Oh, Yuka! Wait a moment.”

Common Phone Situations: Business, Friends, and Being Put on Hold

How a call unfolds depends entirely on context. Here are the three most common scenarios you will encounter.

Calling a business
When you call a shop, clinic, or office in Japan, the staff will typically open with something like: お電話ありがとうございます (thank you for calling), followed by the company name. Your job is to identify yourself and state your purpose clearly. A typical opening from you might be:

「スミスと申します。予約をお願いしたいのですが。」
Smith to moushimasu. Yoyaku wo onegai shitai no desu ga.
“My name is Smith. I would like to make a reservation.”

The trailing が (ga) at the end softens the request — a very natural pattern in polite Japanese phone speech.

Being put on hold
When the other party puts you on hold, you will hear: 少々お待ちください (shoushoo omachi kudasai). This means “please wait a moment” — 少々 (shoushoo) is the formal version of ちょっと (chotto). If someone asks you to hold, simply reply: はい、失礼いたします (hai, shitsurei itashimasu) — a clean acknowledgment that shows you understand.

Calling a friend
With friends, the script is much looser. A typical casual call might open with もしもし、俺だよ！ (moshi moshi, ore da yo! — “Hey, it’s me!”) or simply your name followed by だけど (dakedo — a casual connector meaning “but” or “so”). The formalities of keigo disappear entirely in casual calls.

Leaving and Taking Messages (伝言)

If the person you want to reach is unavailable, you have two choices: leave a message (伝言を残す — dengon wo nokosu) or ask for a callback. Here are the key phrases for both sides of this exchange.

折り辺び (orikaeshi) literally means “turning back” — a vivid way to say “returning a call”. It is a set phrase in business Japanese and sounds completely natural. 確かに伝えます (tashika ni tsutaemasu) is the reassuring closer from the person taking the message — it signals they have understood and will follow through.

Yuka

アイノリさんはいまいますか？「伝言をお願いできますか？」って言えばいいのね。

Rei

そう。「折り辺びお電話いただけますか？」も使えるよ。折り辺び は「電話を折り辺す」だから、必ず覚えておいてね。

Yuka: “Is Ainori-san available? You can say ‘May I leave a message?’ right?”
Rei: “Right. You can also use ‘Could you have them call me back?’ — 折り辺び means ‘turning a call back around’, so make sure you remember it.”

Dealing with Problems: Bad Connections and Wrong Numbers

Phone calls do not always go smoothly. Here is how to handle the two most common problems gracefully.

Bad connection
If you cannot hear clearly, it is perfectly acceptable to say so politely. Do not just nod along (うんうん — unun) hoping you will catch up later.

The softening pattern ではないでしょうか (de wa nai deshou ka) is deliberately indirect — in Japanese phone etiquette, you never bluntly say “You have the wrong number.” Instead, you phrase it as a gentle possibility, which allows the other person to correct the situation without embarrassment. This is classic Japanese communication style.

Ending a Call: 失礼いたします vs じゃあね

How you end a call matters just as much as how you start it. In Japanese business culture, the closing phrase signals the level of formality and respect you have shown throughout.

Cultural note — who hangs up first? In Japanese business calls, there is an unspoken rule: the person of lower status or the caller (not the receiver) should wait for the other party to hang up first. If you are calling a client, a doctor’s office, or a senior colleague, let them end the call. Hanging up abruptly before the other person is considered rude — it communicates impatience and disrespect. When in doubt, wait a beat after saying 失礼いたします before gently setting down the phone.

Sample Scripts: Three Real-Life Phone Calls

The best way to internalize phone Japanese is to walk through complete scripts. Here are three realistic scenarios with full dialogue.

Script 1: Making a restaurant reservation

Script 2: Calling a doctor’s office

Script 3: Calling a friend to make plans

Yuka

もしもし！レイは？今週末カラオけに行かない？

Rei

いいね！土曜日はダメだけど、日曜日なら大丈夫だよ。何時にする？

Yuka: “Hello! Is that Rei? Want to go to karaoke this weekend?”
Rei: “Sure! Saturday doesn’t work for me, but Sunday is fine. What time?”

Common Mistakes English Speakers Make on Japanese Phone Calls

Even learners who speak solid conversational Japanese often stumble on the phone. Here are the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Mistake 1: Saying もしもし when answering a business call
もしもし is perfectly fine for personal calls, but in a business context — even if it is your mobile — answering with もしもし sounds casual and unprofessional. Instead, say your family name followed by でございます (de gozaimasu) or simply はい (hai). For a company main line: 「はい、ABC社でございます。」

Mistake 2: Using ください instead of いただけますか in business requests
ください (kudasai) means “please give me” and is grammatically correct, but it sounds abrupt in business calls — almost like giving an order. Compare:

Mistake 3: Hanging up as soon as you say goodbye
As noted in the ending-a-call section above, abruptly hanging up after your closing phrase is considered rude in Japan. Always pause, listen for the other party’s response, and let them disconnect first when the situation calls for it — especially with businesses, clients, and elders.

Mistake 4: Treating silence as a problem
During hold periods or while the other party is looking something up, English speakers often feel the urge to fill the silence. In Japanese business calls, short silences are acceptable and expected. A quiet はい (hai) to acknowledge you are still there is enough — you do not need to fill every second with words.

Quick Quiz

1. How do you say “My name is Suzuki” in a formal business call?
Answer: 鈴木と申します。 (Suzuki to moushimasu.)

2. What does 少々お待ちください mean, and when do you hear it?
Answer: “Please wait a moment.” You hear it when you are being put on hold.

3. Fill in the blank: To leave a message, you say: 伝言を___________できますか？
Answer: お願い (onegai) → 伝言をお願いできますか？

4. How do you politely tell someone you can’t hear them well?
Answer: 少々聞こえにくいのですが。 (Shoushoo kikoenikui no desu ga.)

5. In Japanese business culture, who should hang up the phone first — the caller or the person being called?
Answer: Generally, the person of higher status (the customer or the senior colleague) should hang up first. The caller waits.

Have you ever made or received a phone call in Japanese? Share your experience — or your most memorable phone moment — in the comments below. We would love to hear how it went!

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Daisuke is the creator of JP YoKoSo — a Japanese learning site for English speakers. Every article is written to explain Japanese clearly, with real examples, grammar notes, and practical tips for learners at every level.

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