おはようございます
ohayō gozaimasu[o̞ha̠jo̞ː ɡo̞za̠ima̠sɨ̥]
In Japanese, "good morning too" is expressed as おはようございます (ohayō gozaimasu).
The phrase is a polite greeting used to say hello to someone in the morning. If you want to specifically emphasize the "too" in "good morning too" (as in "good morning to you too"), you can add こちらこそ to the beginning of the phrase.
How do you pronounce it?
ohayō gozaimasu
Did you know?
- In the Japanese entertainment and service industries, おはようございます is used as the first greeting of a work shift, even if that shift starts at midnight.
- While usually polite, using the full おはようございます with a close friend can ironically signal that you are angry or being sarcastic.
- The word おはよう is actually a contraction of お早い (ohayai), which means 'early'. You are essentially telling someone 'You are early' rather than just wishing them a good morning.
Examples in context
- はい、おはようございます。Hai, ohayou gozaimasu.Yes, good morning.
Example conversation
At a company entrance in the morning.
- 大翔 Hiroto結衣さん、おはようございます。Yui-san, ohayou gozaimasu.Good morning, Yui.
- 結衣 Yui大翔さん、おはようございます。Hiroto-san, ohayou gozaimasu.Good morning, Hiroto.
- 大翔 Hiroto今日はいい天気ですね。Kyou wa ii tenki desu ne.The weather is nice today, isn't it?
- 結衣 Yuiそうですね。Sou desu ne.It is, isn't it.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry おはようございます, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
