How to Say "Welcome Back" in Japanese

お帰りなさい

okaerinasai[o̞ka̠e̞ɾʲina̠sa̠i]

The Japanese phrase for "welcome back" is お帰りなさい (okaerinasai). Wiktionary also lists お帰り (okaeri).

Meaning: welcome back (phrase)

Ways to say it

“welcome back” in Japanese
Japanese	Romanization (Wiktionary)	IPA
お帰りなさい	okaerinasai	[o̞ka̠e̞ɾʲina̠sa̠i] (narrow)
お帰り	okaeri	[o̞ka̠e̞ɾʲi] (narrow)

This phrase is specifically used when someone is returning to their own home or a place where they belong (like an office or a base).

お帰りなさい is the polite version of the phrase, while お帰り is the casual version.

okaerinasai

The command form なさい (nasai) in the polite version お帰りなさい actually functions as a gentle imperative, traditionally used by parents to children or teachers to students.
In many Japanese households, the person returning is expected to say ただいま (tadaima) before the other person responds with お帰りなさい (okaerinasai).
While お帰り (okaeri) is used for family, if you are welcoming a customer back to a shop, you would almost never use this phrase, opting instead for much more formal business expressions.

お帰りなさい。逢いたかったわ。
Welcome back. We missed you.
This sentence shows how to use お帰りなさい to express that someone was missed.
Tatoeba #10630193 by small_snow, translation #5092253 by AlanF_US
「ついに戻ってきました！」「お帰り！」
"At last, I've returned!" "Welcome back!"
This example demonstrates a casual exchange using お帰り.
Tatoeba #11455423 by small_snow, translation #12589075 by urro
お帰りなさい、トム。あなたがいなくて寂しかったのですよ。
Welcome back, Tom. We've missed you.
This sentence uses お帰りなさい to welcome someone back and tell them they were missed.
Tatoeba #1555109 by bunbuku, translation #1228176 by CK
1 more sentence on Tatoeba

Misaki arrives home and Ren greets her.

Sources

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