The moving-in greeting
The traditional round of doors on moving day, hikkoshi no aisatsu, has shrunk in big cities but has not disappeared. The practical version is the two flats beside you and the one below, plus the caretaker if there is one. Keep it under fifteen seconds: your name, your room number, an apology for the noise of the move, and yoroshiku onegai shimasu. A small inexpensive gift is common and optional, and a towel or a box of sweets is more than enough.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 隣に引っ越してきた田中です。 | Tonari ni hikkoshite kita Tanaka desu. | I'm Tanaka, I've just moved in next door. |
| 今日から302号室に住みます。 | Kyō kara san-maru-ni gōshitsu ni sumimasu. | I'll be living in room 302 from today. |
| 引っ越しの日は少しうるさくなるかもしれません。 | Hikkoshi no hi wa sukoshi urusaku naru kamoshiremasen. | It may get a little noisy on moving day. |
| ご迷惑をおかけしますが、よろしくお願いします。 | Gomeiwaku o okake shimasu ga, yoroshiku onegai shimasu. | Sorry for the trouble, and I look forward to being your neighbour. |
| こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします。 | Kochira koso, yoroshiku onegai shimasu. | Neighbour: Likewise, nice to meet you. |
Passing greetings in the building
Daily neighbour contact is short and almost scripted: a greeting, a weather comment, and nothing more. The mistake learners make is treating a corridor encounter as an invitation to a conversation. Say the greeting clearly, add one line about the weather or the season if you want warmth, and let the other person leave. Doing this consistently builds far more trust than one long chat.
The lift has its own micro-etiquette. Whoever is standing near the buttons asks the other person which floor they want, and the person stepping out first says shitsurei shimasu as they go. If you are carrying something bulky and slow, osaki ni dōzo lets the other person go ahead of you rather than making them wait behind you in the doorway.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| おはようございます。 | Ohayō gozaimasu. | Good morning. |
| こんばんは。お帰りなさい。 | Konbanwa. Okaerinasai. | Good evening. Welcome home. |
| いいお天気ですね。 | Ii otenki desu ne. | Lovely weather, isn't it. |
| 何階ですか。 | Nan-kai desu ka. | Which floor? |
| 五階、お願いします。 | Go-kai, onegai shimasu. | The fifth floor, please. |
| お先にどうぞ。 | Osaki ni dōzo. | After you. |
Rubbish categories and the words on the sign
Sorting rules are set by each municipality, so the categories below are the common shape rather than your local law. Your city office hands out a chart, often in several languages, and the bin area usually has the same chart on the wall. Learn to read the category names first, because everything else follows from them: the collection day, the bag you must buy, and whether an item needs a booking.
| Category | Japanese | Usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Burnable | 燃えるごみ moeru gomi | Food waste, tissues, soiled paper, some plastics |
| Non-burnable | 燃えないごみ moenai gomi | Ceramics, glass, metal items, small appliances |
| Recyclable resources | 資源ごみ shigen gomi | The umbrella term for the sorted recycling below |
| Plastic packaging | プラスチック容器包装 purasuchikku yōki hōsō | Trays, wrappers and tubs marked with the プラ symbol |
| PET bottles | ペットボトル petto botoru | Drink bottles, rinsed, cap and label removed |
| Cans and bottles | 缶・びん kan, bin | Drinks cans, jars, often collected together |
| Paper and cardboard | 古紙・段ボール koshi, danbōru | Flattened boxes, newspapers, often tied with string |
| Hazardous | 有害ごみ yūgai gomi | Batteries, lighters, spray cans, fluorescent tubes |
| Oversized | 粗大ごみ sodai gomi | Furniture and anything over the size limit |
Two words repay learning early. Shitei-bukuro is the designated bag some cities require you to buy, and putting rubbish out in a supermarket bag where a designated one is required is the most common reason a bag is left behind. Shūshūbi is the collection day, the word printed at the top of every schedule.
Asking about collection days and the bin area
Most buildings have a shared bin area, gomi okiba, with a heavy net over it to keep crows out. The net is not decoration and replacing it after you add your bag is part of the job. Timing is the other half: many areas ask for bags on the morning of collection rather than the night before, precisely because of the crows.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 燃えるごみは何曜日ですか。 | Moeru gomi wa nan-yōbi desu ka. | Which day is burnable rubbish? |
| 火曜日と金曜日の朝です。 | Kayōbi to kin'yōbi no asa desu. | Neighbour: Tuesday and Friday mornings. |
| 朝八時までに出してください。 | Asa hachi-ji made ni dashite kudasai. | Neighbour: Please put it out by eight in the morning. |
| ごみ置き場はどこですか。 | Gomi okiba wa doko desu ka. | Where is the bin area? |
| 前の日の夜に出してもいいですか。 | Mae no hi no yoru ni dashite mo ii desu ka. | Is it all right to put it out the night before? |
| いいえ、当日の朝にお願いします。 | Iie, tōjitsu no asa ni onegai shimasu. | Neighbour: No, on the morning of the day, please. |
| 指定の袋を使ってください。 | Shitei no fukuro o tsukatte kudasai. | Neighbour: Please use the designated bags. |
Oversized rubbish and booking a collection
A mattress, a bookshelf or a bicycle cannot go out with the ordinary bags. Sodai gomi normally means telephoning or using a website to book a collection date, buying a sticker from a convenience store for the fee, writing your reference number on it, and leaving the item outside at the agreed time. The call is short and highly predictable, which makes it good early phone practice.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 粗大ごみを出したいのですが。 | Sodai gomi o dashitai no desu ga. | I'd like to put out some oversized rubbish. |
| ソファーを一つお願いします。 | Sofā o hitotsu onegai shimasu. | One sofa, please. |
| 手数料はいくらですか。 | Tesūryō wa ikura desu ka. | How much is the fee? |
| コンビニで処理券を買ってください。 | Konbini de shori-ken o katte kudasai. | Staff: Please buy a disposal ticket at a convenience store. |
| 収集日の朝、玄関の前に出してください。 | Shūshūbi no asa, genkan no mae ni dashite kudasai. | Staff: Put it outside your entrance on the morning of collection. |
| 確認します。来週の水曜日ですね。 | Kakunin shimasu. Raishū no suiyōbi desu ne. | Let me confirm. Next Wednesday, is that right? |
Noise, floors and shared walls
Japanese flats transmit footsteps and low-frequency sound far better than most people expect, and complaints about ashioto, footsteps, are extremely common. The practical defences are rugs, slippers, and not running the washing machine late at night. The linguistic defence is a sentence that shows you know sound travels, which reframes you from careless to considerate before anything has gone wrong.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 夜は静かにするようにしています。 | Yoru wa shizuka ni suru yō ni shite imasu. | I try to keep quiet at night. |
| 足音がうるさかったら、言ってください。 | Ashioto ga urusakattara, itte kudasai. | If my footsteps are loud, please tell me. |
| 赤ちゃんが泣いてしまって、すみません。 | Akachan ga naite shimatte, sumimasen. | I'm sorry about the baby crying. |
| ご迷惑をおかけしてすみません。 | Gomeiwaku o okake shite sumimasen. | I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused. |
Warning people before a move or a party
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 明日、業者が入るので、少し音が出ます。 | Ashita, gyōsha ga hairu node, sukoshi oto ga demasu. | Workmen are coming tomorrow, so there will be some noise. |
| 午前中の二時間ほどで終わります。 | Gozenchū no ni-jikan hodo de owarimasu. | It should be finished in about two hours in the morning. |
| 土曜日の夕方、友達が何人か来ます。 | Doyōbi no yūgata, tomodachi ga nan-nin ka kimasu. | A few friends are coming on Saturday evening. |
| うるさかったら、遠慮なく言ってください。 | Urusakattara, enryo naku itte kudasai. | If it's too loud, please don't hesitate to say so. |
| わざわざありがとうございます。 | Wazawaza arigatō gozaimasu. | Neighbour: Thank you for coming to tell me. |
Notice the shape: what will happen, when it starts, when it ends, and permission to complain. The last line matters most. Offering the neighbour an easy way to object is what turns a warning into a courtesy rather than an announcement, and in practice almost nobody takes you up on it.
Packages left with a neighbour
Deliveries in Japan are usually left in a locker or redelivered rather than handed to a neighbour, but it still happens in older buildings, and you may be asked to sign for someone else. Accepting is optional. If you do accept, hand the parcel over promptly and do not leave it outside a door, because valuable items are frequently sent this way.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お隣の荷物を預かっています。 | Otonari no nimotsu o azukatte imasu. | Delivery driver: I'm holding a parcel for your neighbour. |
| 代わりに受け取っていただけますか。 | Kawari ni uketotte itadakemasu ka. | Delivery driver: Could you receive it on their behalf? |
| すみません、今日は受け取れません。 | Sumimasen, kyō wa uketoremasen. | Sorry, I can't take it today. |
| こちら、届いていました。どうぞ。 | Kochira, todoite imashita. Dōzo. | This arrived for you. Here you are. |
| ありがとうございます。助かりました。 | Arigatō gozaimasu. Tasukarimashita. | Neighbour: Thank you, that's a great help. |
The neighbourhood association and local notices
Many areas have a residents' association, called a jichikai or chōnaikai, which collects a small monthly fee and organises street cleaning, festivals and disaster drills. Membership is often voluntary in practice, though the pressure varies. The visible sign of it is the kairanban, a folder of notices that circulates from door to door: you read it, sign or stamp the sheet, and pass it to the next flat within a day or so.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 回覧板をお持ちしました。 | Kairanban o omochi shimashita. | Neighbour: I've brought the circulating notice folder. |
| 見たら、次の方に回してください。 | Mitara, tsugi no kata ni mawashite kudasai. | Neighbour: Once you've read it, pass it to the next household. |
| 自治会費は月いくらですか。 | Jichikai-hi wa tsuki ikura desu ka. | How much is the association fee per month? |
| 今度の日曜日に清掃があります。 | Kondo no nichiyōbi ni seisō ga arimasu. | Neighbour: There's a clean-up this coming Sunday. |
| その日は仕事で、参加できません。 | Sono hi wa shigoto de, sanka dekimasen. | I'm working that day, so I can't take part. |
| 日本語がまだ上手ではないので、ゆっくりお願いします。 | Nihongo ga mada jōzu de wa nai node, yukkuri onegai shimasu. | My Japanese isn't good yet, so please speak slowly. |
Raising a problem without making an enemy
The instinct of most foreign residents is to endure a problem silently for months and then complain angrily. The Japanese pattern is the opposite: raise it early, quietly, and in a shape that lets the other person fix it without losing face. Open by apologising for disturbing them, describe the issue as something you have noticed rather than something they are doing, and finish with a request softened by itadakeru to tasukarimasu.
If a face-to-face conversation is beyond your Japanese or feels unsafe, the management company or the landlord will pass the message on without naming you. That route is completely normal, and for many disputes about noise or smells it is the route Japanese residents choose too.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お忙しいところ、すみません。 | Oisogashii tokoro, sumimasen. | Sorry to bother you when you're busy. |
| 少しご相談したいことがあるのですが。 | Sukoshi gosōdan shitai koto ga aru no desu ga. | There's something I'd like to discuss with you briefly. |
| 夜、上の階の音が少し気になっていまして。 | Yoru, ue no kai no oto ga sukoshi ki ni natte imashite. | At night, the noise from upstairs has been bothering me a little. |
| もし可能でしたら、少し気をつけていただけると助かります。 | Moshi kanō deshitara, sukoshi ki o tsukete itadakeru to tasukarimasu. | If possible, it would help a lot if you could be a bit careful. |
| 気づきませんでした。すみません。 | Kizukimasen deshita. Sumimasen. | Neighbour: I hadn't noticed. I'm sorry. |
| 管理会社に相談したほうがいいですか。 | Kanri-gaisha ni sōdan shita hō ga ii desu ka. | Would it be better to speak to the management company? |
A four-week plan for neighbourhood Japanese
- Week one: learn your address and room number aloud, and greet one person in the building every day.
- Week two: read the bin area chart and write your own collection schedule in Japanese, not in translation.
- Week three: practise the complaint opening, then the reply you would give if a neighbour used it on you.
- Keep a note of every sentence a neighbour actually says to you and reuse their wording rather than your own.