When you are speaking Japanese in a business, you will need a little different wording from daily conversation.
So, I would like to give some tips here to those who want to practice proper business Japanese.
Let’s start with this lesson 1: How to introduce yourself in a Japanese business meeting.
Key Phrase
First of all, here is the Japanese phrase you must remember to introduce yourself in a business meeting.
Japanese
はじめまして。[会社名] の [名前] と申します。よろしくお願いいたします。
Hiragana
はじめまして。[かいしゃめい] の [なまえ] ともうします。よろしくおねがいいたします。
Romaji
Hajimemashite. [kaishamei] no [namae] to mōshimasu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
English
Nice to meet you. I’m [your name] from [company name]. Pleased to meet you.
Lesson Conversation
Next, I give you the example conversation at a business meeting. The conversation takes place between Mr. Takahashi and Mary.
The speakers have a business relationship, so they will be using formal Japanese.
Japanese
Takahashi: はじめまして。ABCの高橋と申します。よろしくお願いいたします。
Mary: はじめまして。Zのスミス メアリーと申します。よろしくお願いいたします。
Hiragana
Takahashi: はじめまして。ABCのたかはしともうします。よろしくおねがいいたします。
Mary: はじめまして。Zのスミス メアリーともうします。よろしくおねがいいたします。
Romaji
Takahashi: Hajimemashite. ABC no Takahashi to mōshimasu. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.
Mary: Hajimemashite. Z no Sumisu Meari- to mōshimasu. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.
English
Takahashi: Nice to meet you. I’m Takahashi from ABC Inc. Pleased to meet you.
Mary: Nice to meet you. I’m Mary Smith from Z Inc. Pleased to meet you too.
Closer Look
Let’s have a closer look at the usage of the words from the sentence above.
はじめまして。
Hiragana はじめまして。
Romaji Hajimemashite.
English Nice to meet you.
Commentary (1)
This is very useful phrase to start the conversation when you first meet that person. It literally means “nice to meet you”, so please use it when you really meet for the first time. Don’t use it the second time you meet that person.
ABCの高橋と申します。
Hiragana [ABC] の [たかはし] ともうします。
Romaji [ABC] no [Takahashi] to mōshimasu.
English I’m [Takahashi] from [ABC Inc].
Commentary (1)
[name]と申します (to mōshimasu)
This is a very formal way of saying “I’m [name].”
Even though you can normally say ” [company name] no [your name] desu” when you’re introducing yourself in a general situation, you should use “to mōshimasu” instead of “desu” in a business situation.
申します (mōshimasu) is masu-form of verb: 申す (mōsu).
申す (mōsu) is a humble verb meaning “to be called” or “to say”.
です (desu) is also polite expression, however, 申します (mōshimasu) sounds even more polite. Please don’t forget to put と (to) in front of that.
By the way, 申します (mōshimasu) is only used to introduce your name. You can’t use it when you introduce someone to another person. For example, when you introduce Mr. Suzuki to someone else, you can’t say, Suzuki-san to mōshimasu.
Commentary (2)
In Japanese, when you’re introducing yourself in a business setting, it is quite common for someone to begin their introduction with their company first followed by the particle の (no) and then their name.
[company name] の [your name]
The particle の (no) indicates that [your name] work in the [company].
Commentary (3)
In English, a company is often written as Inc., Co., Ltd., etc. It will be translated into “株式会社 (kabushikigaisha)” in Japanese. So, for example, when you are speaking ABC Inc. in Japanese, it will be 株式会社ABC. However, there is no problem even if you omit it in verbal communication.
よろしくお願いいたします。
Hiragana よろしくおねがいいたします。
Romaji yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.
English (literally) Please be good to me.
Commentary (1)
Its literal translation is, “please be good on me” but it’s a commonly used expression that corresponds to “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegai shimasu) is actually the same meaning as よろしくお願いいたします (yoroshiku onegai itashimasu). And the former phrase is still polite way to say, on the other hand, the latter phrase is more polite way of saying that you can show respect to the other person.
します (shimasu) is a polite language of verb: する (suru).
いたします (itashimasu) is a humble language of verb: する (suru).
する (suru) means “to do”.
