Useful phrases in Japanese #2

I was originally going to write a post on the intricacies of sorting one's household trash here, but Blogger decided that it doesn't want to let me upload photos today (or my internet is being crappy and won't let me upload photos to Blogger) so I have to postpone that post. Instead, I thought it might be good to actually make a series of my earlier Useful phrases in Japanese #1 post since the "#1" did suggest that there was going to be more than one such post. If you recall, last time I described the words "sumimasen" and "gomenasai" and suggested when each was appropriate to use.

I thought it might be good to continue on the theme of being generally polite so this time I'll discuss the "pleases" and "thank yous".

Useful phrases in Japanese #1

My Japanese is still at a state that could best be described as somewhere between "non-existent" and "severely broken". I can read some of the language although for the most part I can either pronounce it because it's written in kana or I can understand it because it's one of the kanji I have learned, but typically not both.

However, I do know a little and some of the little I know includes useful phrases so you can go about life without being a total jerk. I thought I'd start sharing some of those in installments.

Today, I'll discuss what is possibly the most useful word in Japanese.

Sumimasen (すみません)

This word can be used for anything from getting a waiter's attention to apologizing to thanking someone or trying to plow your way through a crowded train station (it's a flexible word). If you are going to visit Japan and only learn one word before coming here, this is probably it.

In cases like getting attention, it's a bit like "excuse me" and is acceptable to use in restaurants, when requesting assistance or generally on the street (e.g. if you see someone drop something). In cases where you're moving through a crowd the meaning can vary between "excuse me" and "sorry" depending whether you're just cutting through or whether you're (lightly) bumping into anyone. It can also mean "thank you" in the sense of "thank you for doing me a favour" (e.g. "thank you for finding that thing I dropped").

Note that while "sumimasen" is fine for lightly bumping into someone, if you totally plow into someone because neither of you were looking where you were going, you probably want to use "gomennasai" (ごめんなさい) a few times instead of "sumimasen" since it's more apologetic. If it's both of your fault, the person you plowed into will probably also apologize profusely.

Hanami is coming!

Those little buds will become awesomeness!

Hanami (花 = hana = flower, 見= mi = see/viewing) is a custom that seems to consist of going somewhere nice, having a picnic and watching the cherry blossoms. It's not supposed to start around here for for a little more than a week, but I'm excited for it already.