Hurray! You've met another Japanese-speaking person. Time to introduce yourself.

But how do you say "Pleased to meet you" in Japanese?

The first phrase you'll want is:

<em>"Nice to meet you"</em>

<em>Hajimemashite </em> (almost literally) means "we are meeting for the first time". So you can only use it the first time you meet someone.

The other super-useful phrase is:

<em>"Please be kind to me."</em>

<em>Yoroshiku onegaishimasu </em>is hard to translate, but means something like "please be kind to me".

It means that you are looking forward to having a good relationship with someone.

Add <em>douzo</em> to make your greeting more polite:

<em>"Nice to meet you" (polite & a bit formal)</em>

You could also say:

<em>4) お会いできてうれしいです </em><em>O-ai dekite ureshii desu.</em>

<em>"I'm happy to meet you." (more polite & formal)</em>

or even:

<em>5) お会いできて光栄です </em><em>O-ai dekite kouei desu.</em>

<em>"I'm honoured to meet you." (even more polite & formal)</em>

If you don't feel like being so polite, you could also say:

<em>6) よろしくね </em><em>Yoroshiku ne.</em>

<em>"Nice to meet you" (very casual)</em>

It's good to be nice-mannered when you meet new people though, right?

Last but not least, when someone says <em>yoroshiku onegaishimasu</em>, you can add the feeling of "me too!" by replying with<em> kochira koso </em> ("me too!"):

<em>こちらこそ宜しくお願いします Kochira koso yoroshiku onegaishimasu.</em>

<em>"No, I'm the one who is pleased to meet you." / "The pleasure is mine."</em>

Now, go and find someone new to speak to, and tell them how pleased you are to meet them.

<em>Yoroshiku ne!</em>

If you have any questions about learning Japanese, please feel free to ask me.