It is always difficult to talk on the phone in a language you don't understand well. Don't give up though. Practice will help a lot. Listen very carefully to what the other person says. Talking on the phone in Japanese has an added complication, since there are some formal phrases customarily used in phone conversations. (The Japanese normally talk very politely on the phone unless talking with a friend.)

Telephone Numbers

A telephone number (denwa bango) consists of the three parts, for example, (XX) XXXX-XXXX. The first part is the area code. The second and last part are the person's number. Each number is usually read separately, linking the parts with the particle "no". In telephone numbers 0 is often pronounced as zero, 4 as yon, 7 as nana, and 9 as kyuu (as 0, 4, 7 and 9 each have two different pronunciations). If you do not know the Japanese numbers, click here to learn them. If my phone number were 1234-5678 it would be read "ichi ni san yon no go roku nana hachi." (Remember 'no' takes the place of the dash in the number.)

To ask someone's number you can say Denwa bango wa nan ban desu ka.

Phrases

In Japanese, a lot of set phrases are used when speaking on the phone, especially in business situations. One important phrase is "moshi moshi." It is used by the caller when the person at the other end picks up. Some people say "moshi moshi" to answer the phone, but "hai" is used more often especially in business. (Do not say 'mushi mushi' that means 'bugs, bugs' and sounds rather silly.) Moshi moshi can also be said when you think that the caller cannot hear you or to make sure the caller is still on the line.

Before hanging up the phone it is common to say shitsurei shimasu or shitsurei itashimasu. This indicates that you are about to hang up.