What’s the first thing you should say when entering the home of a Japanese person? Survey says…. I’m about to get in the way! Nope, that is not the wrong phrase. Now you might be thinking, “Huh? Are they serious?” Well, I can assure, we’re quite serious. Today we’ll teach you how to enter Japanese home respectfully and show that you’re sensitive to the culture. This will impress your Japanese friends for sure! Today we’re going to learn about the Japanese concept of in group (uchi) and out group (soto). This is concept is important when deciding when to use polite Japanese or casual Japanese. We’ll look at some other common words and phrases associated with coming and going from your own home.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Beginner Lessons (S4). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
17 Responses to “Beginner Lesson #2 - Japanese Etiquette: Visiting a Home”
JapanesePod101.com says:
July 15th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Mina-san, have you visited a Japanese home? Did you know these phrases?
プチクレア says:
July 16th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Tackling the concepts of うち and そと head on in lesson 2 ? Wow, that’s ambitious !!! 
Another very useful lesson, though. I especially liked the way the mother giggles… As if she was already getting ready for the wedding. I guess 大空さん went through the first step successfully!
Spidey says:
July 16th, 2008 at 8:45 am
This lesson covers some of the most important Japanese any visitor should know.
I have a question. This name is used in two different ways in this lesson.
大空 春 HARU (CONVERSATION)
大空 晴夜 SEIYA (KANJI PRACTICE SHEET)
Could you clarify the reading and usage of this kanji?
Thank you.
s
Phil from Montreal says:
July 16th, 2008 at 11:06 am
No video vocabulary this time? I finished Beginner Season 1 and am now going through 2 and keeping up with 4. Season 2 seems much easier than season 3 was… after 2 I will go back to finishing 3.
And then start on the Lower intermediate lessons! I gotta start buckling down for the JLPT in December, just 144 days left~!
markystar says:
July 16th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Phil from Montrealさん、
there was a little bit of a delay getting the video vocab up, but it’s available now! JLPT頑張ってくださ～い！ 
Mayumi says:
July 16th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Spidey-san,
Haruya （晴夜） is correct. The Kanji PDF and lesson PDF (Romaji section) was wrong. I fixed the PDFs. Thank you for letting us know. 
Naomi says:
July 16th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
皆さん、コメントありがとうございます。
Mina-san komento arigatou gozaimasu. 
What is the most common gift to give when people visit someone’s house in your country?
Naomi says:
July 16th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
retropunk-san
Thank you for pointing that out. We’ll fix it right away.
バロン says:
July 16th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Namiさん, isn’t the most common gift some sort of food? Something like cookies? I remember a culture class on visiting a Japanese home from a while back.
Gabriele says:
July 17th, 2008 at 5:17 am
In Italy, or at least in my region,
the most popular gifts when you visit somebody’s house are
chocolate (or other types of sweets) or alcohol, especially wine.
Wine is particularly good when people invite you over for a meal.
Unlike what I heard happens in Japan, the bottle is usually opened
right away for everybody to enjoy during the meal 
Angie says:
July 17th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Gabrieleさん!
私も イタリア人ですよ。
私の出身は トレヴィソ です。
Gabrieleさんの出身は どこですか。
I am so happy to know you are here!
By the way, I think that in Italy everything that can be ate is welcome as a gift ^__^ 
Great lesson as always 
Peter
Naomiせんせい
Takeさん XD
Eric says:
July 17th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Im sure I will definitely use this when I go to Japan next month, as I am staying in my friends home there. Also does anybody have any good ideas for omiyage to give?
Gabriele says:
July 17th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Angieさん！！初めまして！
私の出身はペルージャです。でも、今アメリカで住みます。
カリフォルニア大学の大学院生です。
どうぞ、よろしくお願いしまう！！
How long have you been studying Japanese? 
We should practice together sometimes!!
Naomi says:
July 17th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Eric-san
I think it depends on what your friend likes. 
As バロン-san kindly mentioned in his comment, a box of cookies or crackers is probably the most popular Omiyage among Japanese people, but anything which is from your hometown would be appreciated, for sure. Rebekah explained Japanese Omiyage culture in Nihongo dojo-beyond style you lesson 17 and 25. I thought her explanation was really good. So please check out those lesson too.
Angie says:
July 17th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Gabrieleさん、 こちらこそ、初めまして。 どうぞ、宜しく お願いします。
私は二ヵ月はん まえから 日本語を勉強しています、けど、一人では ちょっと むつかしい です。 英語も 一人で勉強しました。 でも、英語と日本語は 大ちがいます。
私は大学ではありません。 
会社員 です。
–> Surely there are many errors, Naomi Sensei please don’t read ^__^'’
Do you ever partecipate to Jpod101 forum? My nick there is SywenArk I wrote just today two posts. My first two posts!
Peter says:
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:28 am
Angieさん Gabrieleさん、その調子「ちょうし」！ 
Ericさん、がんばってください！
プチクレアさん、毎度！Yes, this is big challenge for us! 応援してください。
Spideyさん、すごい！
バロンさん、food is definitely common!
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Category: Beginner Lessons (S4) |
Grammar: o kaerinase, out group, tadaima, in group | Function: introducing others, visiting a Japanese home | Topic: Japanese homes | Politeness Level: casual, Polite
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