Brilliant 100+ Business Vocabulary In Japanese To Stand Out

One of the reasons why many people learn Japanese is new business opportunities. Becoming proficient in the Japanese language can open new doors in your career and make you like gold dust for companies that want to collaborate with the Japanese.

As learning a new language, especially an Asian language, is not a one-night thing; it takes time to become fluent in Japanese. But still, you can speed up the process by prioritizing learning business vocabulary in Japanese after mastering the basic vocabulary.

Now, start learning business Japanese and book yourself a position in the Japanese business world!

Page Contents:

• Japanese Business Culture
• Office Supplies In Japanese
• Hierarchy In A Japanese Company
• Must-Know Japanese Phrases To Nail Your Job Interview
• Business Vocabulary In Japanese
• Learn Japanese With Ling App!

 

Japanese Business Culture

To start with, let’s prepare you for the business culture in Japan so that you won’t go through a big culture shock when you enter a Japanese office environment. You’re expected to show the utmost respect to your colleagues and seniors, as it is what Japanese people value the most.

Respectful Bowing

As you know, bowing is a standard greeting in Japanese culture and is also practiced in the workplace. Here are the three variations of bowing:

• 会釈 (Eshaku) – Bow with the upper body to 15 degrees. You can greet your colleagues this way.
• 敬礼 (Keirei) – Bow with the upper body to 30 degrees. You can greet your clients this way and also express gratitude and apologies.
• 最敬礼 (Saikeirei) – Bow with the upper body to 45 degrees. You can greet VIPs and seniors this way and also express profound apologies.

Exchanging Business Cards

Exchanging business cards, 名刺 (meishi), is another etiquette rule in business, and it’s only done when you meet someone from another company for the first time. Business cards are considered to be one’s face in Japan and thus must be treated politely.

Remember to offer and receive cards with both hands (using one hand is considered rude) and ensure that the other person can read the front surface of your card.

Honorific Language At The Office

Using the appropriate Japanese honorifics is considered good manners in Japan. In business settings, you may be judged as incompetent if you can’t use honorific language, 敬語 (Keigo), correctly. Here are the three different forms of honorific language in Japanese:

丁寧語 (Teineigo) – polite language

It’s used to express things politely in general.

• To do – する (suru) -> します (shimasu)

尊敬語 (Sonkeigo) – respectful language

It’s used to talk about superior people, clients, and customers.

• To do – する (suru) -> なさいます (nasaimasu)

謙譲語 (Kenjōgo) – humble language

It’s used to talk about oneself in a humble form.

• To do – する (suru) -> いたします (itashimasu)

 

Office Supplies In Japanese

A good office worker must have a command of the items used at the office. So we’ve collected the essential office supplies in Japanese in the list below.

English	Japanese	Romaji	Pronunciation
Paperclip	クリップ	kurippu	🔊 Play クリップ
Envelope	封筒	fuutou	🔊 Play 封筒
Postage stamp	切手	kitte	🔊 Play 切手
Thumbtack	画鋲	gabyou	🔊 Play 画鋲
Slides	スライド	suraido	🔊 Play スライド
Calendar	カレンダー	karendaー	🔊 Play カレンダー
Tape	テープ	teーpu	🔊 Play テープ
Message	メッセージ	messeーji	🔊 Play メッセージ
Fax machine	ファックス機	fakkusu ki	🔊 Play ファックス機
Photocopier	コピー機	kopiー ki	🔊 Play コピー機
Telephone	電話	denwa	🔊 Play 電話
Typewriter	タイプライタ	taipuraitā	🔊 Play タイプライタ
Projector	プロジェクター	purojekuta	🔊 Play プロジェクター
Computer	コンピューター	konpyūtā	🔊 Play コンピューター
Screen	画面	gamen	🔊 Play 画面
Calculator	電卓	dentaku	🔊 Play 電卓

 

Hierarchy In A Japanese Company

You must pay attention to hierarchy unless it is your own company, right? So here is an example of the hierarchy in a typical Japanese office.

1. President/CEO – 社長 (しゃちょう)
2. Vice president – 副社長 (ふくしゃちょう)
3. Department manager – 部長 (ぶちょう)
4. Section manager – 課長 (かちょう)
5. Co-worker – 同僚 (どうりょう)
6. Subordinate – 部下 (ぶか)

 

Must-Know Japanese Phrases To Nail Your Job Interview

In addition to your respectful attitude and confidence, Japanese business phrases can help you stand out in a job interview.

___と申します。(___ to mōshimasu.)

🔊 Play と申します

Meaning: My name is ___.

After greeting each other, the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. In a business setting, using kenjōgo language to refer to yourself gives the impression that you have good manners and are decent.

The phrase 申します (mōshimasu) is literally translated as “I say myself as ___” in a humble way.

どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。(Dōzo yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.)

🔊 Play どうぞよろしくお願いいたします

Meaning: I beg your kindness./It’s a pleasure to meet you.

It is a more polite version of “yoroshiku onegai shimasu,” but they have the same meaning, more or less. It would be best if you said this phrase after introducing yourself.

This is a handy phrase to use in any formal situation. You can express your gratitude and humbleness by saying this phrase, and it also means that you hope to have a good relationship from now on.

私の 強み/弱み は___です。(Watashi no tsuyomi/yowami wa ___ desu.)

🔊 Play 私の 強み/弱み は___です

Meaning: My strength/weakness is ___.

強み (tsuyomi) means “strength,” and 弱み (yowami) means “weakness.”

Explain your strengths to let the interviewer know that you are an ideal candidate for the position. And it leaves a good impression if you explain your weaknesses and how you can improve yourself.

私は___の経験があります。(Watashi wa ___ no keiken ga arimasu.)

🔊 Play 私は___の経験があります

Meaning: I have experience as ___.

経験 (keiken) means “experience.” You can use this phrase to talk about your related work experience to indicate that you are a competent candidate for the position.

いくつか質問してもいいですか。(Ikutsu ka shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.)

🔊 Play いくつか質問してもいいですか

Meaning: Can I ask you some questions?

If there are some unclear points during the interview, you can use this phrase and let the interviewer know that you have questions in mind. This phrase is also very versatile; you can use it anytime.

面接のお時間をいただき、どうもありがとうございました。(Mensetsu no o-jikan o itadaki, dōmo arigatō gozaimashita.)

🔊 Play 面接のお時間をいただき、どうもありがとうございました

Meaning: Thank you very much for making time for the interview.

At the end of your interview, say this phrase with a smile and remember to bow politely before leaving the interview room.

 

Business Vocabulary In Japanese

Japanese business vocabulary includes many loan English words written as katakana words. So they are easy to learn. Here is the list of commonly used business vocabulary in Japanese.

English	Japanese	Romaji	Pronunciation
company	会社	kaisha	🔊 Play 会社
office	事務所	jimusho	🔊 Play 事務所
department	部署	busho	🔊 Play 部署
meeting	会議	kaigi	🔊 Play 会議
interview	面接	mensetsu	🔊 Play 面接
job vacancy	求人	kyūjin	🔊 Play 求人
salary	給料	kyūryō	🔊 Play 給料
to work	働く	hataraku	🔊 Play 働く
to report	報告する	hōkoku suru	🔊 Play 報告する
to commute	通勤する	tsūkin suru	🔊 Play 通勤する
boss	上司	jōshi	🔊 Play 上司
document	書類	shorui	🔊 Play 書類
client	顧客	kokyaku	🔊 Play 顧客
customer	お客様	o-kyaku-sama	🔊 Play お客様
customer	カスタマー	kasutama	🔊 Play カスタマー
global	グローバル	gurobbaru	🔊 Play グローバル
achievement	功績	koseki	🔊 Play 功績
business	商売	shobai	🔊 Play 商売
business connection	取引先	torihikisaki	🔊 Play 取引先
bankrupt	倒産	tosan	🔊 Play 倒産
accounting	会計	kaikei	🔊 Play 会計
business trip	出張	shucho	🔊 Play 出張
collaboration	タイアップ	taiappu	🔊 Play タイアップ
bank	銀行	ginko	🔊 Play 銀行
absence from work	欠勤	kekin	🔊 Play 欠勤
rush hour	通勤ラッシュ	tsukinrsshu	🔊 Play 通勤ラッシュ
enterprise company	企業	kigyo	🔊 Play 企業
limited company	有限会社	yugen-gaisha	🔊 Play 有限会社
public company	株式会社	kabushiki-gaisha	🔊 Play 株式会社
well-established company	大手企業	ote-kigyo	🔊 Play 大手企業
small-to-medium company	中小企業	chusho-kigyo	🔊 Play 中小企業
creative	クリエイティブ	kurieiteibu	🔊 Play クリエイティブ
deficit	赤字	akaji	🔊 Play 赤字
commerce, trade	商業	shogyo	🔊 Play 商業
crisis situation	危機	kiki	🔊 Play 危機
development dept.	開発部	kaihatsu-bu	🔊 Play 開発部
general affairs dept.	総務部	somu-bu	🔊 Play 総務部
human resources dept.	人事部	jinji-bu	🔊 Play 人事部
sales dept.	営業部	eigyo-bu	🔊 Play 営業部
economics	経済	keizai	🔊 Play 経済
import	輸入	yunyu	🔊 Play 輸入
export	輸出	yushutsu	🔊 Play 輸出
demand	需要	jyuyo	🔊 Play 需要
global market	地球市場	chikyushijo	🔊 Play 地球市場
finance	金融	kinyu	🔊 Play 金融
income	所得	shotoku	🔊 Play 所得
letter of resignation	辞表	jihyo	🔊 Play 辞表
interview	面接	mensetsu	🔊 Play 面接
meeting room	会議室	kaigishitsu	🔊 Play 会議室
international	国際的	kokusaiteki	🔊 Play 国際的
information	知識	chishiki	🔊 Play 知識
negotiation	交渉	koshou	🔊 Play 交渉
inflation	インフレ	infure	🔊 Play インフレ
new product	新製品	shinseihin	🔊 Play 新製品
original, creative	独創的	dokusoteki	🔊 Play 独創的
paid leave	有給休暇	yukyukyuka	🔊 Play 有給休暇
revision, alteration	修正する	shusei-suru	🔊 Play 修正する
personal stamp	判子	hanko	🔊 Play 判子
salary, wage	給料	kyuryo	🔊 Play 給料
Project proposal	企画書	kikakusho	🔊 Play 企画書
overtime	残業	zangyo	🔊 Play 残業
pension	年金	nenkin	🔊 Play 年金
sincerely yours (in letters)	敬具	keigu	🔊 Play 敬具
surplus	黒字	kuroji	🔊 Play 黒字
to give feedback	フィードバックする	fidobaku-suru	🔊 Play フィードバックする
unemployment	失業	shitsugyo	🔊 Play 失業
user	ユーザー	yuza	🔊 Play ユーザー
supply	供給	kyokyu	🔊 Play 供給
wealth gap	貧困の差	hinkon-no-sa	🔊 Play 貧困の差
work procedure	業務	gyomu	🔊 Play 業務
employee	従業員	jugyo	🔊 Play 従業員
office clerk	事務員	jimu	🔊 Play 事務員

Want to learn more than just business Japanese and make the Japanese language a part of your life? Then start using the Ling App right now!

 

Learn Japanese With Ling App!

If you want to learn Japanese, among the 60+ languages offered in the app, the Ling App is here for you!

The Ling app provides tonnes of Japanese words and phrases you can learn at your own pace. Just grab your phone, tablet, or laptop right now and head to Google Play Store or Apple App Store to download it. Mini-games, puzzles, and AI chatbots to practice Japanese speaking skills are just some interactive activities inside the Ling App.

Many Japanese learners use Ling to improve their language skills, so why not join them? Download the Ling App, and get ready to speak Japanese soon!

Plus, don’t forget to visit our Japanese blog weekly to learn more about Japanese culture and language!

Until next time, じゃあまたね!