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WHY DO JAPANESE PEOPLE SAY MOSHI

MOSHI ON THE PHONE? AND OTHER WAYS TO ANSWER THE


TELEPHONE IN JAPANESE
OCTOBER 2, 2015 2300 WORDS WRITTEN BY MICHAEL RICHEY ART BY AYA FRANCISCO
Answering the phone in Japanese seems like easy business. Moshi moshi. Most people know this
telephone hello even if they dont know any other Japanese words.
But if you say moshi moshi every time you answer the phone in Japan, youll end up in bad
situations. There are several ways to answer the phone in Japanese. And you need to know the right
situation for the right greeting.
But moshi moshi is an odd phrase. It doesnt mean hello literally. And theres a reason its
mostly (but not always) used on the phone.

WHAT DOES MOSHI MOSHI MEAN?

Source: Rumpleteaser
Moshi actually comes from the verb mousu , which is a humble form of to say (iu ). In
the Edo period, it was used in normal conversation when speaking to someone of higher status.
Initially, the words used were moushiagemasu , moushimasu or mousu
. These all mean Im going to say (talk). Eventually it was shortened to moushi () and was
used to catch somebodys attention, like saying hey!
Technically, when you say moshi moshi, youre politely saying Im going to talk twice. But it
feels more like, Hey, dude.
In short, the politeness level of the conjugations goes like this:
> > >
There are quite a few options in this moshi moshi menu so be careful about which one you use in
which situation.

WHEN SHOULD YOU USE MOSHI MOSHI?

Source: _WALLACE
You should use moshi moshi primarily when answering the telephone. But only when you receive
a phone call from friends or family.
If there is a long pause or a lost connection during the call, you can use moshi moshi to make sure
the person is still on the line (again only when the call is from a friend or family member).
For example, when your friends voice becomes choppy, you can say moshi moshi kikoemasuka?
which means Hello, can you hear me?
Thats the way youll use moshi moshi 90% of the time. If youre answering the telephone and its
someone other than family or friends on the other line, dont say moshi moshi. Theres another set
of words to use. Well get to those later.
Youre not going to use moshi moshi off the phone too much. But when you do itll usually be to get
someones attention. If your friend is spacing out, you can wave your hand in front of their face and
say, moshi moshi.
Or, if you see someone passed out on the sidewalk, you can tap their shoulder and say, moshi
moshi!
There is one more non-telephone use of moshi moshi thats now defunct. According to 20 B
(20th Century B-Grade News) people complained about police officers in 1913. Back then,
police would stop people by saying oi oi , kora kora or oi kora . All of
these are impolite ways to say Hey!
So on March 6th, 1913, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police announced that officers would
no longer use such crude language. Instead they would shout moshi moshi to get someones

attention or stop a robbery. Police dont do say this anymore, but it may still be on the books as
official police conduct.

OTHER WAYS TO START A JAPANESE PHONE


CONVERSATION
If youre receiving a call from family or friends, moshi moshi is the way to go. But never use it in
business situations. Its considered rude because its a shortened phrase.
Younger Japanese people dont always know not to use moshi moshi in formal telephone calls
(Honestly. Kids today!). A moshi moshi may shock a sempai or two when young kids start making
phone calls.
How can you keep from making such a terrible faux pas? Here are alternate ways to receive calls
(politely).

YES
The easiest and safest way to answer the phone is saying hai . It means yes, but on the phone
it serves the same function as hello. Just remember to identify yourself and your company right
after.

Hello, this is Tofugu, LLC.

Hello, this is Koichi at Kanemochi Co., Ltd.

Note: Japanese people usually use their family name on the phone. A more polite form of
would be preferable as well. See the example below.

Hello, this is Satou at Suzuki Co., Ltd.

Lets say you answer the phone and identify your company but not yourself. The person calling
might ask what your name is.

You would use moushimasu , the humble form of say, after your name. But only use it if
the person on the other end has identified themselves. Its weird to use moushimasu if you dont
yet know who you are talking to.

A:

A: Hello, this is Suzuki Co., Ltd.

B:

B: Who am I speaking to?

A: /

A: This is Satou. / This is Taro Satou.

It might be more polite to mention your full name when asked to identify yourself, especially if your
family name is common.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CALL


Another way to answer the phone is to thank the person who called with odenwa arigatou
gozaimasu . This means thank you for calling.

Thank you for your call. This is Takahashi at Tanaka Co., Ltd.

Note: Depending on the company, Kabushikigaisha (Co., Ltd.) can come before or after the
company name. Saying a company name correctly matters in Japanese culture. Its considered rude
to mess up a companys name, even if its just the co., Ltd. part.

I APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR US


You can also go a step further and thank the caller for everything theyve ever done ever.
The phrase is itsumo osewa ni natte orimasu or osewa ni natte
orimasu . Use these two on the phone in business situations. There are
other variations for other kinds of conversations too.

I appreciate all you have done for us. This is Itou at Bacon Pizza, Shibuya branch.

It may seem odd in English, but its a common greeting in Japan. Say this as soon as you pick up
the phone.

IVE RECEIVED THIS FORWARDED CALL


When you receive a forwarded call in a business situation, say odenwa kawarimashita
.
If its a casual conversation, you could just say, [name]. If a call is forwarded, the
caller already knows the company and the call was forwarded to you. So just say your name.
But, if the call was forwarded from a different department, you might want to say your department
name and your name.

Ive received this forwarded call. This is Watabane in the accounting division.

Fun story: Instead of odenwa kawarimashita, some people say oden wa niemashita ka
?, which means Is the oden cooked yet? Apparently someone tried this five times at
his job, and four out of five people didnt notice.

PARDON ME
As I mentioned before, you can use moshi moshi one the phone when theres a long silence or you
cant hear the person on the other line. But this is not okay for business situations.
Instead say osoreirimasu meaning pardon me. After that, say youre having trouble
hearing. But do it indirectly.
Use the telephone seems to be distant, which is odenwa ga tooi you desu .
This way its nobodys fault. The telephone just went far away. Dont say okoe ga tooi or
your voice is distant because thats blaming the person who you are talking to.

Pardon me. The telephone seems to be distant. Could you say that again, please?

WHY DO JAPANESE PEOPLE SAY MOSHI MOSHI?

Source: Yari Hotaka


Weve got the moshi moshi vocab down pat. Use it on the phone and sometimes elsewhere. But why
say it at all? Why not say konnichiwa or one of the other forms of hello in Japanese? Why does
the telephone get its own special hello?
Historically, there are a three explanations.

EXPLANATION 1: FOXES CANT PRONOUNCE MOSHI MOSHI


What does the fox say? Not moshi moshi, apparently.
Foxes cant pronounce moshi moshi properly. Why would I care about foxes when answering the
phone? A valid question. If youre not aware of the dangers foxes pose to you and your loved ones,
read this article about Kitsune, the magical foxes of Japanese fairy tales.
In short, magical foxes (called kitsune in Japan) are powerful and nasty creatures. They can
shapeshift, create illusions, and love to screw people over. So if a malevolent kitsune were calling
you on the phone, it would be bad news. Thats why Japanese people started to say moshi moshi
when answering the telephone. According to legendary Japanese folklorist, Lafcadio Hearn, foxes
cant speak words fully.

a fox knocks at doors with its tail. If you open, then you will see a man, or perhaps a
beautiful girl, who will talk to you only in fragments of words, but nevertheless in such a way
that you can perfectly well understand. A fox cannot pronounce a whole word, but a part
onlyas Nish . . . Sa. . . for Nishida-San; degoz . . . for degozarimasu, or uch . . . de . .?
for uchi desuka?

And from this the moshi moshi myth was born. The idea of foxes speech impediment eventually
evolved into the legend of their verbal achilles heel, moshi moshi. Or so it stands to reason.

EXPLANATION 2: GHOSTS CANT SAY MOSHI TWICE


This theory was uncovered by Friend of Tofugu (or FOT), Gakuranman. You can read all about his
explanation on the Gakuranman blog. This origin of moshi moshi is similar to the fox explanation
above, which gives validity to both.
Apparently, Japanese ghosts can only say moshi once. Why? I dunno. Ghost logic. Some things in
life (or the afterlife) are just the way they are.
Lets say, youre walking around in the Edo period and see someone you know. You want to call out
to them. But its nighttime and pretty spooky. If you get close to them and say moshi, they may
get scared. That means an embarrassing yelp at best or a reflexive punch in the face at worst.
So you speak out moshi moshi. This ensures the listener that the voice calling out to them on this
dark and spooky night is, in fact, a human friend. Not an inhuman fiend.

EXPLANATION 3: TELEPHONE OPERATORS DID IT


And now for the explanation that seems the most plausible because its actually supported by facts.
On December 16, 1890, telephones were first introduced to Japan. Today, this date is telephone day
(denwa no hi ) in Japan. At the time, only rich people were able to afford telephones.
Being rich, they were used to talking down to others. Thus, the standard telephone hello was oi
oi or hey YOU! The person on the other end would respond with Hai, you gozaimasu
or Hai, you gozansu . Both of these are humble ways of
saying, Yes, Im ready meaning the person calling is ready to talk.
Of course, this abrupt hey YOU! got on peoples nerves when telephone operators used it. So the
oi oi was changed to moushiagemasu .
Moushiagemasu was eventually shortened to mousu mousu for male operators
and moushi moushi for female operators. Some male operators still used oi oi for a
while though.

The person who made the change to mousu mousu or moushi moushi on the telephone was
Shigenori Katougi (). He was an electrician for the Ministry of Engineering and went on
to work for anaka Seisakusho (). He traveled the United States in 1889 to study their
telephone system.
During his visit, Katougi-san learned Americans say hello when answering the phone. Katougis
American hosts asked what what the telephone greeting was in Japan. He wasnt sure what to tell
them. It was either oi oi, moushiagemasu, mousu mousu, or moushi moushi. It would have
required a lot of explanation (about as much as this article). So he just decided to tell the
Americans that Japanese people say moshi moshi and it means hello.
This gave him the idea of a standardized telephone hello which he brought back to Japan. Soon
after in 1893, the term mousu mousu was shortened to mosu mosu and moushi moushi was
shortened moshi moshi.
But after a while there were fewer male telephone operators than female. So mosu mosu
eventually disappeared and moshi moshi became the standard. Historians say this happened in
1902, and both men and women used moshi moshi after that.
One cute story from this era (which may or may not be true): There is a song usagi to kame
(rabbit and turtle) in Japan. The song starts with the lyrics moshi moshi kame yo kame san yo.
The story goes: an operator answered a telephone call with moshi moshi. The man on the other
line answered with kame yo. Both were so tickled they sang the rest of the song together.

NEVER SAY MUSHI MUSHI AGAIN


By now Im sure youre a big moshi moshi fan. Youll wear moshi moshi t-shirts. Youll stick a
moshi moshi sign in your front yard. Youve gone beyond the avoidance of the erroneous mushi
mushi. You know when to use which telephone hello and why its used. Welcome to the moshi
moshi elite.
Next time you answer the phone youll certainly not offend any Japanese businessmen. Or inviting
trouble from devilish foxes.

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