よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegaishimasu) has no single English translation. Depending on the moment it means “nice to meet you,” “please take care of me,” “I’m counting on you,” “thanks in advance,” or “please handle this.” At its core it’s a polite request for goodwill and good treatment going forward — in a relationship, a task, or a year. You learn it by its situations, not by one fixed meaning. Reply with こちらこそ (“likewise”).
Every Japanese textbook drops よろしくお願いします into Lesson 1 and translates it as “nice to meet you.” Then you hear a coworker say it at the end of an email. And again when handing over a document. And again on January 1st. Suddenly “nice to meet you” makes no sense.
That’s because the textbook lied to you — gently. This phrase is one of the purest examples of a Japanese expression that cannot be translated, only situated. Once you understand the feeling underneath it, every use clicks into place. Let’s decode it properly.
Breaking the Phrase Apart
The meaning lives in the two halves:
| Part | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| よろしく | yoroshiku | “favorably / well” — the adverb form of よろしい (good, proper) |
| お願い | o-negai | “a request / wish” (with honorific お) |
| します | shimasu | “I do / I make” |
Literally: “I make a request that you treat [me / this] favorably.” But who, or what, gets treated favorably is left unsaid — and that open-endedness is exactly why one phrase covers so many situations.
The hidden subject: Japanese loves leaving things unstated. よろしくお願いします never specifies what you’re asking goodwill for. The listener fills it in from context — our relationship, this project, this favor. That’s why the same words mean “nice to meet you” and “please handle this report.”
The 5 Core Situations (and What It Means in Each)
1. Ending a self-introduction (“Nice to meet you”)
はじめまして。田中と申します。どうぞよろしくお願いします。
はじめまして。たなかともうします。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。
“Nice to meet you. My name is Tanaka. I look forward to getting to know you.” — here it’s “please treat our new relationship kindly.”
2. Asking a favor (“I’m counting on you”)
この件、よろしくお願いします。
このけん、よろしくおねがいします。
“Please take care of this matter.” — you’re entrusting a task and asking for good handling.
3. Closing an email or message (“Thanks in advance / regards”)
お忙しいところ恐縮ですが、よろしくお願いいたします。
おいそがしいところきょうしゅくですが、よろしくおねがいいたします。
“I’m sorry to trouble you when you’re busy, but I appreciate your help.” — the standard polite email sign-off.
4. Starting a new relationship or team
今日から一緒に働きます。よろしくお願いします。
きょうからいっしょにはたらきます。よろしくおねがいします。
“I’ll be working with you starting today. I look forward to it.” — “please take care of me as your new colleague.”
5. New Year greeting
今年もよろしくお願いします。
ことしもよろしくおねがいします。
“Please continue to treat me well this year too.” — said to friends, family, and colleagues every January.
The Formality Ladder
The phrase scales smoothly from casual to deeply formal. Match the rung to your audience.
| Version | Reading | Formality & use |
|---|---|---|
| よろしく | yoroshiku | Casual — friends, peers (“catch ya later, take care”) |
| よろしくね | yoroshiku ne | Casual & friendly — soft, warm |
| よろしくお願いします | yoroshiku onegaishimasu | Standard polite — safe in almost any situation |
| よろしくお願いいたします | yoroshiku onegai itashimasu | Formal (humble いたす) — business, superiors, clients |
| よろしくお願申し上げます | yoroshiku onegai mōshiagemasu | Very formal — written business, formal letters |
Pro move: add どうぞ in front (どうぞよろしくお願いします) to make any version warmer and more sincere. It’s the difference between “regards” and “I’d truly be grateful.”
How to Reply: こちらこそ
When someone says it to you, you almost always say it back — with a twist that means “no, the pleasure is mine.”
「よろしくお願いします。」「こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします。」
「よろしくおねがいします。」「こちらこそ、よろしくおねがいします。」
“Please treat me well.” “Likewise — it’s I who should be asking that of you.”
こちらこそ (kochira koso) literally means “this side, precisely” — i.e. “it’s me, not you, who owes the courtesy.” Among friends, a simple こちらこそ or よろしく back is plenty.
The Cousin Phrase: お世話になっております
In business you’ll constantly pair よろしくお願いします with another untranslatable workhorse, お世話になっております.
いつもお世話になっております。引き続きよろしくお願いいたします。
いつもおせわになっております。ひきつづきよろしくおねがいいたします。
“Thank you as always for your support. I look forward to our continued relationship.” — the one-two punch that opens and closes countless business emails.
Mistakes Learners Make
- Translating it literally every time. Stop hunting for “the” English meaning. Anchor it to the situation instead.
- Using casual よろしく with a boss or client. Always go to いたします or 申し上げます upward.
- Forgetting it at the end of a request. Asking a favor in Japanese without closing on よろしくお願いします feels incomplete, even a little abrupt.
- Saying it and then NOT bowing in formal in-person settings. The phrase and a small bow travel together.
How to Make These Phrases Automatic
Set expressions like this are pure muscle memory. You don’t conjugate them — you fire them off whole, at the right moment. The trouble is they only appear in specific situations, so casual study leaves them half-learned until you’re standing there, blanking, in front of a new boss.
In Kanjijo, high-frequency set phrases — よろしくお願いします, こちらこそ, お世話になっております — come with an exclusive mnemonic that ties the sounds to the situation, then ride one SRS schedule so they resurface until they’re reflexes. See the phrase on a real email or sign? Point the OCR scanner at it and it becomes a flashcard on the spot.
Related Reading on Kanjijo
Frequently Asked Questions
It has no single English translation. Depending on context it means “nice to meet you,” “please take care of me,” “I’m counting on you,” “thanks in advance,” or “please handle this.” The core idea is a polite request for goodwill and good treatment going forward in a relationship or task.
At the end of a self-introduction, when asking a favor, at the close of a business email, when starting a new working relationship, at New Year (今年もよろしくお願いします), and whenever handing off a task they want handled well.
Say こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします (“likewise, the pleasure is mine”). こちらこそ means “it’s I who should say that.” Casually, just よろしく or こちらこそよろしくね works.
Same meaning, but お願いいたします uses the humble verb いたす, making it more formal. Use いたします (or よろしくお願い申し上げます) for business and superiors; お願いします for everyday polite use; plain よろしく only with friends.
Master Real Japanese Phrases with Kanjijo
Phrases like よろしくお願いします aren’t learned from a definition — they’re learned by situation and locked in by repetition. Kanjijo gives every set phrase an exclusive mnemonic, drills it with one SRS engine, surfaces it through home & lock screen widgets, and turns any phrase you spot in the wild into a card with the OCR scanner — all on a full N5–N1 path with grammar, listening, reading and mock tests.
Download Kanjijo FreeFinal Word
Stop trying to translate よろしくお願いします. It isn’t a sentence with a meaning — it’s a gesture of goodwill that takes whatever shape the moment needs. Learn its five situations, climb the formality ladder, and answer with こちらこそ, and you’ll wield the single most useful phrase in the language like a native.