How to Introduce Two People to Each Other in Japanese

The order, and why it is what it is

The rule is that the person doing the introducing presents their own side to the other side. In practice this means your colleague is introduced to the client, and only then is the client introduced to your colleague. The logic is that presenting someone is an act of offering, and you offer your own people rather than offering a guest.

The same principle orders your own side internally: junior first, senior second. If you are introducing two colleagues of different rank to a visitor, the more junior one goes first. It feels backwards to many learners, who instinctively lead with the most important person, and it is worth rehearsing until it stops feeling odd.

In every row, the person being presented is the one closer to you, and the person receiving the introduction is the one with more standing in the situation.

The formal introduction, line by line

A business introduction is a short fixed exchange with four or five lines, and everybody present knows their part. Learning the whole thing as a unit is much easier than assembling it live, because it happens fast and usually while standing.

The opener is shōkai sasete itadakimasu, allow me to introduce, which is humble and appropriate in almost any professional setting. From there, present each person with kochira wa, then their name, then a one-line description of their role.

Honorifics: which side gets which

The honorific rules in an introduction are the same in-group and out-group rules that govern everything else, applied under pressure. Your own colleagues take no honorific title in front of an outsider, regardless of their rank, and their actions take humble forms. The other side takes sama or san, their titles, and honorific verbs.

The hardest case is your own manager. Tanaka-buchō becomes simply Tanaka when you present them to a client, which feels rude and is not. Failing to make the switch is the more noticeable error, because it signals that you are treating your own hierarchy as though it applied to the guest.

Business cards in the middle of it

In a first business meeting the introduction and the card exchange happen together, and the card exchange has its own choreography: present with both hands, card facing the recipient, say your name and company as you offer it, receive with both hands, read it, and place it on the table rather than putting it away.

The junior person offers their card first, which mirrors the introduction order. If you are presenting a colleague, they will usually exchange cards immediately after you name them, so leave a pause rather than continuing straight into the next introduction.

Asking how a name is read is polite rather than embarrassing. Japanese surnames often have several possible readings, and native speakers ask each other regularly.

Introducing in a social setting

Away from work the rules loosen but do not vanish. Age and the guest-host relationship still shape the order, and the phrases become shorter. Kochira is replaced by kono hito among close friends, and the descriptions become relational rather than professional: a friend from university, a colleague, a neighbour.

The most useful social addition is a connection line. Giving the two people something in common turns an introduction into a conversation, and it is the part that stops everyone standing in silence afterwards.

When you are introduced

Your part is short and fixed: name, affiliation if relevant, and yoroshiku. The mistake learners make is adding too much, which slows the exchange and steals the moment from whoever is doing the introducing. Two sentences is right.

Wait for the introduction to finish before speaking. A learner who launches into a self-introduction as soon as their name is said cuts across the sequence, and the sequence is what everyone else is following.

Introducing yourself when nobody does it for you

Sometimes the introduction never comes, particularly in a large meeting or a social gathering where nobody knows who is connected to whom. Introducing yourself is entirely acceptable, and there is a fixed apology for doing so out of sequence: mōshiokuremashita, forgive me for not saying sooner.

The opener is what makes it comfortable. Shitsurei shimasu followed by your name, or a light reference to the situation, gives you a reason to be speaking and lets the other person respond in kind.