How to Say Sorry to Keep You Waiting in Japanese: Omatase Shimashita

Omatase shimashita: the core phrase

The verb 待つ (matsu) means to wait. Its causative form, 待たせる (mataseru), means to make someone wait. Put the honorific o in front and the humble shimasu after it and you get お待たせしました (omatase shimashita): I have made you wait.

Unlike English, the phrase does not contain the word sorry. It is an acknowledgement of the other person's time, and that acknowledgement is what makes it polite. English speakers sometimes add sumimasen in front, and that is natural too: sumimasen, omatase shimashita.

You use it the moment the wait ends: when you arrive at a meeting spot, return to the phone after putting someone on hold, come back from the kitchen, or finally have the document someone asked for.

Casual: omatase and gomen, omatase

With friends and family, the phrase shrinks to お待たせ (omatase), often with a quick ごめん (gomen) in front. You might say it as you jog up to a friend at the ticket gate, or as you come back from the toilet at a café.

Young people also say omatase with a long final vowel, omatasē, or add ne. If you are genuinely late, not just a minute behind, gomen, okurete, sorry I'm late, is a more fitting apology, and you can combine the two.

Formal: taihen omatase itashimashita

In business and customer service, the phrase becomes more humble. 大変 (taihen) means greatly, and いたしました (itashimashita) is the humble form of shimashita. Taihen omatase itashimashita is what a call centre agent says when they come back on the line, and what a clerk says after a long wait at a counter.

Choose the level to match the length of the wait and the relationship. A short delay with a colleague needs only omatase shimashita. A client who waited in reception for ten minutes deserves taihen omatase itashimashita, often followed by a brief reason and thanks.

Before the wait: o-machi kudasai

The natural partner of omatase is a request to wait. 少々お待ちください (shōshō o-machi kudasai), please wait a moment, is the phrase you will hear from shop staff, receptionists and people on the phone. In more humble business speech, it becomes shōshō o-machi itadakemasu deshō ka, could I ask you to wait a moment?

Casually, friends say chotto matte, wait a sec, or chotto matte te, wait there a moment. The full cycle in a shop or office usually goes: shōshō o-machi kudasai as the clerk leaves, then omatase itashimashita as they return.

In restaurants and shops

Restaurant staff use omatase shimashita constantly: when they seat you after a queue, when they bring drinks and when they set down each dish. Here it is closer to here you are than to a real apology, so do not worry that anything has gone wrong. Staff often add the name of the dish: omatase shimashita, ramen desu.

At a shop counter, staff often call the next customer with omatase itashimashita, tsugi no o-kyaku-sama dōzo, thank you for waiting, next customer please. As a customer you do not need to reply, though a nod or a quiet arigatō gozaimasu is friendly.

At work: meetings, emails and phone calls

At work, omatase shimashita covers late arrivals to meetings, delayed replies and slow deliverables. When you join a meeting late, say it as you sit down, with a small bow. If you were more than a minute or two late, add a clear apology and a short reason: densha ga okurete shimai, mōshiwake arimasen deshita, the train was delayed, I'm very sorry.

In emails, a delayed reply often opens with go-henshin ga osoku nari, mōshiwake gozaimasen, I apologise for my late reply. Omatase is less common at the start of emails, but you will see omatase itashimashita when someone finally sends something that was promised, such as a quote or a revised document.

What people say back

Replies to omatase are usually reassuring. Friends say daijōbu, it's fine, or ima kita tokoro, I've only just arrived, even if they have been waiting a while. Colleagues and acquaintances say iie, daijōbu desu yo, not at all, it's fine. In business, a guest might reply iie, iie, o-isogashii tokoro arigatō gozaimasu, not at all, thank you for making time when you're busy.

If the wait was genuinely long, people still usually reply politely. Complaints about waiting tend to be indirect, so a slightly tight smile or a remark like chotto shinpai shita yo, I was a bit worried, may be as far as it goes.

Common learner mistakes

These are the slips that make learners sound unnatural with this phrase.

• Saying machimashita, I waited, instead of omatase shimashita. The first sounds like a complaint; the second takes responsibility.
• Saying omatase shimasu before the wait. Before the wait, ask with o-machi kudasai; omatase shimashita is for when the wait ends.
• Using plain omatase with a manager or client. Use omatase shimashita at least, or taihen omatase itashimashita.
• Treating omatase as a full apology for being very late. Add okurete sumimasen or mōshiwake arimasen.
• Replying to restaurant staff with a long answer. A nod or arigatō gozaimasu is enough.
• Forgetting the causative. Matase, not mate: the point is that you made the other person wait.