The core idea: four questions on one remote
A Japanese air conditioner, eakon (エアコン), is almost always a wall-mounted unit that both cools and heats, controlled with a remote, rimokon (リモコン). Both words are clipped English. Before you press anything, sort the buttons by the question they answer: is it running, which job is it doing, how strongly, and when should it start or stop?
The diagram marks the four groups on a generic remote. The wide button near the top, unten/teishi, is the one you need on day one. Unten literally means operation, the word also used for driving a car, and teishi means stop. Some remotes split it into two buttons, and some have no start button at all, because pressing a mode button starts the machine. At home people rarely say unten: flatmates simply tsukeru, switch on, and kesu, switch off.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| エアコン、つけてもいい？ | Eakon, tsukete mo ii? | Mind if I turn on the air con? |
| 暑いから、エアコンつけよう。 | Atsui kara, eakon tsukeyō. | It's hot, let's put the air con on. |
| 出かけるとき、エアコン消してね。 | Dekakeru toki, eakon keshite ne. | Switch the air con off when you go out, OK? |
| リモコン、どこにある？ | Rimokon, doko ni aru? | Where's the remote? |
Modes: the job the machine is doing
The mode buttons are more logical than they first appear. The bō in reibō and danbō is a kanji meaning room, so reibō is literally 'cold room' and danbō 'warm room'. Joshitsu is literally 'remove damp', and sōfū is 'send wind'. Once you know rei, dan, shitsu and fū, you can read the modes on any remote.
Makers differ in small ways. Some print joshitsu, others dorai, from the English dry; it is the same mode. Some call automatic jidō, others something friendlier such as omakase. Older and hotel remotes often have a single unten kirikae button, literally 'operation switch', which steps through the modes.
| Label | Reading | Literally | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 冷房 | reibō | cold room | Cools the room towards the set temperature |
| 暖房 | danbō | warm room | Heats the room towards the set temperature |
| 除湿 | joshitsu | remove damp | Takes moisture out, usually cooling a little |
| ドライ | dorai | dry | Another name for joshitsu on some remotes |
| 送風 | sōfū | send wind | Fan only: no cooling and no heating |
| 自動 | jidō | moves by itself | Chooses the mode from the room temperature |
| 運転切換 | unten kirikae | operation switch | Steps through the modes on one-button remotes |
Which mode for which weather
Japan's weather gives each mode a season, as the diagram shows. Midsummer, manatsu, calls for reibō. The rainy season, tsuyu, roughly June to July in most of the country, is the time for joshitsu: the air is heavy and damp rather than hot. Winter is danbō. On mild days sōfū just moves the air, and when you are unsure, jidō decides.
Joshitsu matters more than newcomers expect. Flats are compact and well sealed, damp settles in cupboards, and mould follows, so many people run joshitsu through the rainy season, especially while laundry dries indoors.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今日は蒸し暑いですね。除湿にしましょうか。 | Kyō wa mushiatsui desu ne. Joshitsu ni shimashō ka. | It's muggy today. Shall we put it on dry? |
| 冷房が効きすぎて、ちょっと寒いです。 | Reibō ga kikisugite, chotto samui desu. | The cooling is too strong. I'm a bit cold. |
| 寒くなってきたので、暖房に切り替えますね。 | Samuku natte kita node, danbō ni kirikaemasu ne. | It's getting cold, so I'll switch to heating. |
| 窓を開けて、送風にしておきます。 | Mado o akete, sōfū ni shite okimasu. | I'll open the window and leave it on fan only. |
Temperature, fan strength and direction
Ondo (温度), temperature, is set with the arrows, one degree or half a degree at a time. The big number on the display is the settei ondo, the set temperature: the room temperature the machine is aiming for. It is not the temperature of the air coming out, nor shitsuon (室温), the current room temperature, which some remotes show separately.
Fūryō (風量), literally 'wind amount', is fan strength: usually jidō, then several levels from quiet up to kyō, strong. Fūkō (風向), 'wind direction', moves the louvres, often with separate buttons for jōge, up and down, and sayū, left and right, plus a sweeping suingu setting. In conversation people say kazamuki, the everyday word with the same kanji. The scene is a small meeting room in summer.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 温度を一度上げてもらえますか。 | Ondo o ichido agete moraemasu ka. | Could you raise the temperature by one degree? |
| 今、二十六度に設定してあります。 | Ima, nijūroku-do ni settei shite arimasu. | It's set to 26 degrees at the moment. |
| 風が直接当たって、寒いんです。 | Kaze ga chokusetsu atatte, samui n desu. | The air is blowing straight at me, and I'm cold. |
| じゃあ、風向きを上に変えますね。 | Jā, kazamuki o ue ni kaemasu ne. | Then I'll point the air upwards. |
| 風量を弱にしてもいいですか。 | Fūryō o jaku ni shite mo ii desu ka. | Is it all right if I set the fan to low? |
Timers: iri, kiri and oyasumi
The timer buttons use two kanji you will meet on switches all over Japan: iri (入), on, and kiri (切), off. Iri is literally 'enter', as power enters the machine; kiri is literally 'cut', as in cutting the power. An iri taimā starts the air conditioner later and a kiri taimā stops it later, after a number of hours or at a clock time, depending on the model. To clear a timer, look for torikeshi (取消), cancel.
Oyasumi, 'good night', varies most. On some remotes it is a sleep mode that eases the temperature and airflow through the night; on others it is an off timer that switches the machine off after an hour or two. The manual tells you which kind you have. Here a couple are getting ready for bed.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 寝るとき、切タイマーを二時間にセットするね。 | Neru toki, kiri taimā o ni-jikan ni setto suru ne. | When we go to bed, I'll set the off timer for two hours. |
| 朝六時に暖房が入るように、入タイマーをかけたよ。 | Asa roku-ji ni danbō ga hairu yō ni, iri taimā o kaketa yo. | I set the on timer so the heating comes on at six in the morning. |
| タイマーがかかったままになってるよ。 | Taimā ga kakatta mama ni natteru yo. | The timer's still set, you know. |
| タイマーを取り消したいんですが、どうすればいいですか。 | Taimā o torikeshitai n desu ga, dō sureba ii desu ka. | I'd like to cancel the timer. How do I do it? |
| 夏はおやすみモードで寝ています。 | Natsu wa oyasumi mōdo de nete imasu. | In summer I sleep with it on sleep mode. |
Beyond the basics: the buttons you can safely ignore
Everything so far is enough to live comfortably. Modern remotes add a second layer, often behind a sliding cover, and most of it can be left alone. Naibu kurīn (内部クリーン), internal clean, dries the inside of the unit after cooling to hold back mould. On many models it runs by itself after you switch off, which is why the unit may keep humming for a while.
The indoor unit also has lamps, such as the unten ranpu, operation lamp. One that keeps blinking is usually reporting a fault, and the manual explains the pattern. Hotels often use a wall panel instead of a remote, with the same kanji. Other labels you may meet:
- Kaiteki or omakase: a comfort mode that chooses the settings for you
- Pawafuru or kyūsoku: a short burst at full power
- Firutā sōji: filter cleaning, done by hand or automatically depending on the model
- Tokei awase: setting the clock, needed before clock-time timers work
- Shitsuon hyōji: a display of the current room temperature
Asking a landlord or hotel for help
Scene one: ten at night in a business hotel, the room is cold, and the remote only produces cool air. You phone the front desk. Staff answer in keigo; a clear, polite request from you is enough.
Scene two: in your flat the unit has stopped, or water is dripping from it. You contact the management company, kanri gaisha, or the landlord, ōya-san. Choose your verb carefully: kikanai means it runs but does not do its job, ugokanai means it will not run at all. Separate posts cover the rooms of a Japanese home and general hotel phrases; here the focus is only the machine on the wall.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| すみません、エアコンの使い方を教えていただけますか。 | Sumimasen, eakon no tsukaikata o oshiete itadakemasu ka. | Excuse me, could you tell me how to use the air conditioner? |
| 暖房にしたいんですが、どのボタンを押せばいいですか。 | Danbō ni shitai n desu ga, dono botan o oseba ii desu ka. | I'd like heating. Which button should I press? |
| 運転切換ボタンを押して、暖房を選んでください。 | Unten kirikae botan o oshite, danbō o erande kudasai. | Press the mode button and choose heating. (Staff) |
| 部屋が寒くて、エアコンが効かないんです。 | Heya ga samukute, eakon ga kikanai n desu. | My room is cold; the air conditioner isn't warming it. |
| エアコンが動かなくなりました。 | Eakon ga ugokanaku narimashita. | The air conditioner has stopped working. |
| エアコンから水が漏れています。 | Eakon kara mizu ga morete imasu. | Water is leaking from the air conditioner. |
| 修理をお願いできますか。 | Shūri o onegai dekimasu ka. | Could you arrange a repair? |
| このエアコンは備え付けですか。 | Kono eakon wa sonaetsuke desu ka. | Does this air conditioner come with the flat? |
Common mistakes with a Japanese air conditioner remote
Pressing sōfū on a hot day and wondering why the room stays hot. The cause is the kanji fū, wind: a breeze feels cool. Sōfū only moves air; for cooling, press reibō.
Running joshitsu in winter and feeling the room grow colder. The cause is expecting a portable dehumidifier, some of which give off warm air. On most air conditioners dry mode is gentle cooling; in winter, stay on danbō.
Setting a kiri timer and expecting the heating to come on in the morning. The cause is reading kiri as cutting a wait short. Kiri always means off; to wake up warm you need iri.
Saying eakon o akete, literally 'open the air con', to mean switch it on. The cause is translation from languages such as Chinese or Vietnamese, where turning on a machine uses the word for open. In Japanese you tsukeru an air conditioner and kesu it; akeru is for windows.