The short version: the clerk asks the same eight questions every single time, and you can answer almost all of them with two phrases: 大丈夫です (no thanks) and はい、お願いします (yes please). That is it. That is the whole conversation.
Here is the moment. You have picked up a bento, a bottle of tea and a rice ball. You have practised いくらですか. And then the clerk says a long sentence at speed, looks at you, and waits.
Your brain produces nothing. You say “ah… yes?” and hope. Sometimes you get chopsticks you did not want. Sometimes your bento comes back cold.
What nobody tells beginners is that this is not a conversation. It is a script — the same eight lines, in the same order, in every shop in Japan. Learn the script and the panic disappears completely, because you already know what is coming before they say it.
The eight lines, in order
いらっしゃいませ。いらっしゃいませ。Welcome.
— nothing.A small nod is perfect. Japanese customers almost never reply to this.
お弁当、温めますか。おべんとう、あたためますか。Shall I heat up your bento?
はい、お願いします。はい、おねがいします。Yes please.
大丈夫です。だいじょうぶです。No thanks, I'm fine.
袋はご利用ですか。ふくろはごりようですか。Do you need a bag?
袋、いりますか。ふくろ、いりますか。Same question, shorter and friendlier.
はい、お願いします。Yes please. (bags cost a few yen now)
大丈夫です。No thanks.
お箸はおつけしますか。おはしはおつけしますか。Shall I include chopsticks?
はい、お願いします。Yes please.
大丈夫です。No thanks.
ポイントカードはお持ちですか。ポイントカードはおもちですか。Do you have a point card?
いいえ、大丈夫です。いいえ、だいじょうぶです。No, I'm fine.
持っていません。もっていません。I don't have one.
お支払いは現金ですか、カードですか。おしはらいはげんきんですか、カードですか。Cash or card?
カードで。カードで。By card.
現金で。げんきんで。Cash.
こちらにタッチしてください。こちらにタッチしてください。Please tap here.
こちらにお願いします。Here, please. (pointing at the reader)
はい。Yes. Then tap.
レシートはご利用ですか。レシートはごりようですか。Do you need the receipt?
ありがとうございました。Thank you very much.
大丈夫です。No thanks.
どうも。Thanks. (perfect, and what most people actually say)
Why 大丈夫です is the most useful word you can learn
大丈夫 means okay, fine, no problem. But when it answers an offer, it becomes a soft, completely polite no thank you — exactly like “I'm good” in English.
| You want to say | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Yes please | はい、お願いします | はい、おねがいします |
| No thanks | 大丈夫です | だいじょうぶです |
| By card | カードで | カードで |
| Cash | 現金で | げんきんで |
| Thanks | どうも | どうも |
Five short lines. That is a complete convenience store visit, and none of it is above N5.
The 10-minute practice plan
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Say the two answers out loud ten times: はい、お願いします / 大丈夫です. |
| 2 | Listen to the eight questions until you can spot the last word — ですか is your cue that a question just ended. |
| 3 | Decide your defaults before you go in: bag yes or no, chopsticks yes or no. |
| 4 | Go. The script does not change, so the second visit is already easier than the first. |
1. Hear it before you need it. Kanjijo's conversation and shadowing tracks let you practise exactly these exchanges out loud, and dictation trains the harder half — catching a fast question you were not expecting.
2. Keep the words. Every vocabulary item comes with example sentences, furigana and audio, plus an exclusive mnemonic, and the SRS engine brings each one back the day before you would forget it.
3. Review without deciding to. The home and lock screen widgets put today's words on the screen you already check constantly, and the interactive test widget quizzes you in three seconds.
4. Read the shelf too. The OCR scanner reads any label or price tag through your camera and turns it into a review card.
And when you are ready for more than the till: the full N5–N1 kanji, vocabulary and grammar banks, JLPT reading and JLPT listening practice, and mock JLPT tests are all in the same app.
- Conversation & shadowing
- Dictation training
- Example sentences with audio
- Exclusive mnemonics
- SRS spaced repetition
- Home & lock screen widgets
- Interactive test widget
- OCR scanner
- Full N5–N1 grammar bank
- JLPT listening practice
- Mock JLPT tests
- Zen design
Quick reference
- 温めますか
- Shall I heat it? → はい、お願いします / 大丈夫です
- 袋はご利用ですか
- Do you need a bag? (bags are no longer free)
- お箸はおつけしますか
- Shall I add chopsticks?
- ポイントカードはお持ちですか
- Do you have a point card? → いいえ、大丈夫です
- お支払いは現金ですか、カードですか
- Cash or card? → カードで / 現金で
- 大丈夫です
- The universal polite “no thanks.”
Related Reading on Kanjijo
Frequently Asked Questions
温めますか (あたためますか) means shall I heat this up? The clerk asks it whenever you buy a bento, a rice ball or anything microwaveable. Answer はい、お願いします (yes please) or 大丈夫です (no thanks). The verb is 温める, to warm something up — the same 温 printed on the reheat button of every Japanese microwave.
袋はご利用ですか (ふくろはごりようですか) means do you need a bag? Plastic bags are no longer free in Japan, so the clerk always asks and a bag costs a few yen. Shorter versions are 袋、いりますか and 袋、おつけしますか. Answer はい、お願いします or 大丈夫です.
It means no thank you, I'm fine without it. 大丈夫 literally means all right or okay, but when it answers an offer it is a polite refusal, exactly like “I'm good” in English. It covers bags, chopsticks, heating, receipts and point cards, which is why one phrase plus はい、お願いします handles almost the whole transaction.
No. Staff use keigo toward customers — ご利用, お持ち, おつけしますか, お支払い — but customers are not expected to speak it back. Polite です / ます forms are entirely appropriate, and short answers such as はい、お願いします, 大丈夫です and カードで are what Japanese customers actually say. You only need to recognise keigo, never produce it.
年齢確認 (ねんれいかくにん) is age confirmation, required for alcohol and tobacco. The clerk says 年齢確認をお願いします or ボタンを押してください, and a button appears on the customer-facing screen for you to press. In most shops pressing it is all that is needed.
Walk in already knowing what they will say
Kanjijo teaches the Japanese you actually meet: conversation and shadowing tracks for speaking out loud, dictation for catching fast speech, example sentences with furigana and audio, exclusive mnemonics, an SRS engine timed to the moment before you forget, and home, lock screen and interactive test widgets. Plus the full N5–N1 kanji, vocabulary and grammar path, JLPT reading and listening practice, mock tests and an OCR scanner. Free on iPhone.
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