How to Say ‘Nice to meet you.’ in Japanese
はじめまして。
hajime mashi te
[hah-jee-meh mah-shee teh]
💬 Usage Tip: Standard first-meeting greeting. Often followed by [よろしくお願いします]. Pronunciation tip: (ha-ji-me-mash-te).
🇯🇵 In Japan: At clubs/bars in Japan, it’s totally normal to open with a polite greeting even in a casual setting—then you can switch to more casual speech as you vibe.
Phrase Breakdown
はじめ
hajime
[hah-jee-meh]
beginning; first (as in ‘for the first time’)
Here はじめ is the first part of はじめまして (“Nice to meet you”). It implies this is the first time meeting.
クラブで新しい友だちに、はじめまして、と言った。
I said “Nice to meet you” to a new friend at the club.
まして
mashi te
(polite set phrase part)
Part of the fixed greeting はじめまして. By itself, it’s not usually used as an independent word in modern Japanese.
はじめまして。よろしくお願いします。
Nice to meet you. Please treat me well.
Words in this phrase
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
(part of the set phrase)
まし is a chunk of the polite expression in はじめまして. At this level, learn it as part of the fixed greeting rather than separately.
はじめまして。音楽、好きですか。
Nice to meet you. Do you like music?
て
te
[teh]
(part of the set phrase)
て completes the fixed greeting はじめまして. It’s best memorized as one phrase.
はじめまして。今日のビート、いいね。
Nice to meet you. The beat today is nice, right?
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