LIVING IN JAPAN

How to Say Hello in Japanese

It’s not as straightforward as you would think

There is no word for “hello” in Japanese. (All illustrations courtesy of irasutoya.)

I sometimes play a game with my English students. We ask the question, “How often do you…” and try to elicit the response we want — always, sometimes, hardly ever, or never.

One of my students asked me, “How often do you say ‘Good morning’ to your children in…