Kochira, Sochira, Achira, Dochira: Polite Directions, People and Phone Calls

The core idea: an open hand, not a fingertip

Koko is a fingertip on a map: this exact spot. Kochira is an open hand swept towards one side of the room: over this way. The first and most literal use is direction. Kochira is the side where the speaker is, sochira the side where the listener is, achira a side away from both, and dochira asks which side.

You arrive at a restaurant and the host leads you in. Later you need the exit. These are the sentences you will hear and need on the first day of any trip.

How it is built: four nouns and their casual forms

All four are nouns, and that decides the grammar. They take particles like any noun, kochira e, kochira ni, kochira wa, and they need no before another noun: kochira no seki, this seat, and kochira no kata, this person. Kochira seki is not possible, because kochira is not a modifier like kono.

The casual forms swap chira for a doubled consonant plus chi. They mean the same things but belong to conversation between friends and family.

Polite replacement for koko and kore

Here is the step that makes these words so common. Pointing directly at a place or an object is felt to be a little sharp, so polite Japanese points at the general direction instead. Kochira stands in for koko and kore, sochira for soko and sore, achira for asoko and are, and dochira for doko. You are checking in at a hotel, and the clerk speaks to you like this.

You do not have to answer in the same style. A guest can say kore o onegai shimasu and sound perfectly polite. Kochira is expected from the person giving service, and from anyone speaking formally at work.

Minimal pairs: fingertip against open hand

In the first two pairs the facts are identical and only the manners change. The third pair is different: there the word changes the meaning, because dochira assumes exactly two candidates. A waiter holding two desserts asks dochira; a waiter in front of a full trolley asks dore.

Introducing people: kochira wa Tanaka-san desu

Kore is the word for objects, so using it for a person you wish to honour sounds like labelling a parcel. Kochira solves the problem by indicating the side where the person stands. Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu is the standard introduction. (Literally: as for this side, it is Tanaka-san.) You are at a reception with your colleague Suzuki and meet a client, Ms Tanaka.

Notice that Suzuki loses the san when you introduce him to someone outside your company, because he belongs to your side. The reply kochira koso uses kochira for the speaker: it is my side that should be saying so.

Beyond the basics: kochira and sochira on the phone

On the telephone there is nothing to point at, only two ends of a line. Kochira becomes my end, which covers me, my company and my town, and sochira becomes your end. This gives Japanese a polite way to say I and you without using watashi or anata, and anata is a word most speakers avoid with customers and strangers.

You are calling a hotel in Sapporo from Tokyo. The receptionist answers, you ask for a member of staff and chat about the weather, and she promises a call back.

Docchi and dochira: a choice between two

Two options are two sides, so the direction word doubles as the word for which of two. With friends this is nearly always docchi. The answers reuse the family: kocchi for the one nearer me, socchi for the one nearer you. The full comparison pattern with yori and no hō ga has its own article; what matters here is the limit of two, and the useful extras docchi demo, either, and docchi mo, both.

The casual forms are also the everyday words for movement and position at home: kocchi kite, acchi itte. They are warm with family and friends and too familiar for a customer.

Neighbours: kono kata, donata and dare

Kono kata also means this person politely. The difference is position in the sentence: kochira stands alone as a noun and suits the moment of introduction, while kono kata is the ordinary way to go on talking about the person afterwards. For who, the ladder is dare, plain; donata, polite; dochira-sama, for callers and visitors whose name you need.

Common mistakes with kochira and dochira

The first mistake is kore wa Tanaka-san desu in an introduction. It is wrong in tone, and it comes from English 'this is'. Kore is for things. Say kochira wa Tanaka-san desu.

The second is kochira hito or kochira seki. These are wrong because learners treat kochira like kono. Kochira is a noun and needs no: kochira no kata, kochira no seki.

The third is dochira for a choice among many, as in kono itsutsu no naka de dochira ga ii desu ka. With five options this is wrong; the direction word only has two sides. Use dore.

The fourth is anata wa dare desu ka on the phone. Each word is correct and the whole is rude, a word-for-word copy of 'who are you'. Say dochira-sama deshō ka.

The fifth is a register slip: kocchi e dōzo to a client. Learners pick up kocchi from friends and anime and use it everywhere. With customers and seniors, return to kochira.