How to Call In Sick in Japanese

Before you dial

Decide three things before the phone rings: who you are calling, whether you are asking for a full day or a half day, and what is urgent in your work today. Most workplaces expect the call to go to your direct superior rather than a colleague, and to come early, before the shift or the working day begins. Beyond that, expectations vary widely by company and industry, so confirm your own workplace's rule in advance instead of improvising it while ill.

Have a note in front of you with your section name, the word for your symptom, and the name of the person who could cover anything urgent. Reading from a note is not cheating; Japanese business calls are formulaic precisely so that both sides can move quickly, and a caller who knows their lines sounds competent rather than rehearsed.

• Call your direct superior, unless your workplace names someone else.
• Call early, before work starts, and apologise for the hour if it is very early.
• Know whether you are asking for the day, the morning, or leaving early.
• Have one sentence ready about anything urgent and who could cover it.
• Check in advance how your employer records the absence and whether paid leave applies.

The six parts of the call

This is the skeleton. Each row is one move, and the model line is enough on its own; you can say the whole call in under a minute. Notice that the request itself is the only long sentence, and that everything else is a single short clause.

The opening that identifies you

Japanese phone calls begin with identification, not with hello. Give your section and your surname, in that order, because your manager may be answering half awake. Otsukaresama desu is the standard internal greeting at any hour; osewa ni natte orimasu is for external callers, so do not use it on your own manager. Then acknowledge the hour before you say anything about yourself.

If the call goes to voicemail, leave the same information in the same order and say you will call again: rusuban denwa ni nokoshimasu ga, ato de mō ichido o-denwa itashimasu. Then send a message as well, so there is a written record.

Stating the symptom without over-explaining

One clause is the norm. The -mashite ending links your reason to the request that follows and sounds noticeably more formal than -mashita: netsu ga arimashite, mōshiwake arimasen ga. If you would rather not name anything specific, taichō ga suguremasen and taichō furyō no tame are both accepted and vague on purpose. Do not narrate your night.

Asking for the day off in humble language

The request is where the register does its work. Oyasumi o itadaku uses the humble verb itadaku, receive, so you are receiving the day off rather than taking it. Adding no desu ga and trailing off is deliberate: the unfinished sentence leaves the decision with your manager. Yasumasete itadakemasu deshō ka is one step more formal again, built on the causative, letting me be allowed to rest.

Whether the day counts as paid leave, unpaid absence, or something else is a matter for your employer's rules, and those differ. Ask for the absence first and sort out how it is recorded afterwards, unless your workplace has told you to specify.

Offering the handover

This is the part that changes how the absence is received. Say in one sentence what is urgent, what is already finished, and who could cover, then offer whatever you realistically can do from home without promising to work while ill. If nothing is urgent, say so plainly; isogi no shigoto wa arimasen is genuinely useful information for a manager at seven in the morning.

The -te oku form in kaite okimasu and irete okimasu means doing something in advance for later benefit, which is exactly the idea of a handover. It is the single most useful verb form on this call.

A full model call

Here is the whole call in order, with the manager's likely lines marked so you know which ones you hear rather than say. Read it aloud twice, once as yourself and once as the manager, so that the replies stop surprising you. The two questions that catch learners out are the temperature question and the urgent-work question, and both come at the point where you are least prepared to improvise. Answer them in one short sentence each and return to the script.

The message version

Where a chat message or email is accepted, keep the same order but drop the small talk. A subject line, the absence, the reason in general terms, the handover, contact details, and an apology. Written absence notices are usually more formal than the spoken call, so gozaimasen replaces arimasen and itashimasu replaces shimasu.

Even where a message is allowed, many managers appreciate a short call as well on the first morning. Ask which your team prefers before you are ill, and if in doubt, send the message and offer to call.

Other reasons and the second day

A child's illness, a planned hospital appointment and your own sudden fever are all handled with the same structure but different opening clauses. Appointments are usually mentioned in advance rather than on the morning, and half days are common for them. Whether these count as leave, and what they are called on your payslip, is your employer's business rule, so ask rather than guess.

If you are still ill the next morning, call again at the same time. Kinō ni hikitsuzuki, continuing from yesterday, is the phrase that acknowledges this is a second call, and giving a realistic expected return date matters more than optimism.

Going back to work

The return is short and matters more than people expect. Thank the person who covered for you by name, apologise once for the disruption, say you are better, and state what you will catch up on today. Do not repeat the apology all morning; one clear thank you at the desk of the person affected is the local norm.

How to rehearse this before you need it

• Write your own version of the six moves with your real section, surname and manager's name.
• Say it standing up at normal speed, timed, until it takes under a minute.
• Practise being interrupted at the symptom line and answering nan-do gurai arimasu ka.
• Drill three symptom clauses only: fever, stomach, and the vague taichō ga suguremasen.
• Save the message version as a draft on your phone so you are not composing it at six in the morning.
• Ask a colleague, while healthy, who you should call and by what time.