Japanese Konbini Phrases: What Staff Actually Say

🗣️ The convenience store is where most people speak their first real Japanese, and also where most people freeze. SoraSpeak lets you rehearse the exchange out loud with an AI Japanese teacher, with corrections on grammar, particles and politeness explained in simple English. Free daily tier, in your browser. Start a free speaking session →

Here is the short version: the konbini counter is the easiest real conversation in Japanese, because staff say the same six things in the same order every time, and you can answer nearly all of them with either お願いします or 大丈夫です. The hard part is not speaking. It is recognising six fast, polite sentences delivered by someone who says them four hundred times a shift.

So this guide runs in both directions. Every staff line comes with kana, a reading and a gloss, followed by the short answer a native customer actually gives — plus the requests you need when you want something the script does not offer.

In this guide: why the konbini · the counter in order · the bag question · heating and chopsticks · point cards · paying · every line and answer · daijobu desu · staff keigo · asking for things · practice · bottom line

Why the konbini is your best first conversation

For a visitor or a new resident, the convenience store is usually where your mouth opens first. You will go into one on day one, probably twice, and then most days after that. Which makes it worth treating as a language exercise rather than an errand.

Three things make it the ideal first conversation:

The script is fixed. A restaurant conversation can go anywhere. A konbini transaction cannot. There is a closed set of questions, they arrive in a predictable order, and none of them branch into follow-ups.

The stakes are zero. If you say nothing at all, the transaction still completes — staff will default to bagging your food, skipping the chopsticks and moving on. Every attempt is free.

It repeats daily. Ten visits is ten spaced repetitions of the same six sentences, in a real environment, with nothing riding on any of them.

The one thing to prepare for: this is a listening test, not a speaking test. Your output is two or three words. The staff member's is fast, polite, contracted, and full of honorific forms your textbook introduces in chapter twenty. That imbalance is why travellers who have studied for months still stand at the counter nodding blankly.

What happens at the counter in order

A whole visit, start to finish. Not every step fires every time, but the order almost never changes.

1. いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase) — "Welcome." Said to the room the moment the door chime goes. No reply is expected. You do not say it back, you do not say hello, you do not nod. Native customers stay silent, and this alone surprises a lot of learners.
2. Items get scanned. If you bought hot food, the heating question comes here.
3. If you bought alcohol or tobacco, the 年齢確認 age screen appears and staff turn it towards you.
4. 袋はご利用ですか — the bag question.
5. お箸はおつけしますか — chopsticks, spoon, fork, straw.
6. ポイントカードはお持ちですか — loyalty card.
7. 〜円になります — the total.
8. お支払いは — how you are paying.
9. Change and receipt: 〜円のお返しです, レシートはよろしいですか.
10. ありがとうございました (arigatō gozaimashita) — "Thank you." Here you can answer, with a small ありがとうございます or どうも. Many customers just leave.

Now each step in detail.

The bag question and the plastic bag fee

This one has the most variations, because every chain trains it differently. All four mean the same thing:

• 袋はご利用ですか (fukuro wa go-riyō desu ka) — "Will you be using a bag?" Keigo. The most common phrasing.
• 袋にお入れしますか (fukuro ni o-ire shimasu ka) — "Shall I put it in a bag?" Keigo, humble form.
• レジ袋はいかがですか (reji-bukuro wa ikaga desu ka) — "How about a carrier bag?" Keigo.
• 袋はいりますか (fukuro wa irimasu ka) — "Do you need a bag?" Polite, plainer.

Your answers:

• お願いします (onegai shimasu) — "Yes please." Polite. The single most useful word in the store.
• 大丈夫です (daijōbu desu) — "I'm fine, thanks." Polite.
• このままで大丈夫です (kono mama de daijōbu desu) — "As it is, is fine." Polite. Useful when you want to be unambiguous.

Why they ask at all: Japan made charging for plastic shopping bags compulsory nationwide on 1 July 2020. Bagging used to be automatic and silent; now every bag is a priced item needing your consent — which is why the question turns up on a purchase of one onigiri.

Two consequences worth knowing. First, マイバッグ (mai baggu) — a reusable bag — is completely normal to produce at the counter, and there is nothing to say when you do; just open it and staff will load it or hand items across. Second, if you decline a bag on a single item, staff will often say テープでよろしいですか (tēpu de yoroshii desu ka) — "Is tape okay?" — and stick a small piece of tape or a sticker on the packaging to show it has been paid for. Say はい or お願いします.

If you need the bags arranged a particular way:

• 袋を分けてください (fukuro o wakete kudasai) — "Please split them into separate bags." Polite.
• 袋をもう一枚ください (fukuro o mō ichi-mai kudasai) — "One more bag please." Polite. 枚 (mai) is the counter for flat, thin things, which is what a bag is.

Heating chopsticks and cutlery

Buy a bentō, an onigiri, a pack of fried chicken or anything else microwaveable and you will hear:

• 温めますか (atatamemasu ka) — "Shall I heat it up?" Polite.
• 温めましょうか (atatamemashō ka) — "Shall I heat it up?" Polite, softer.
• お弁当は温めますか (o-bentō wa atatamemasu ka) — "Shall I heat the bentō?" Polite.

Answers: お願いします for yes, 大丈夫です or そのままで大丈夫です (sono mama de daijōbu desu — "as it is is fine") for no. If you want it heated and were not asked, 温めてください (atatamete kudasai) — "please heat it up" — does the job.

Cutlery comes next, and this is where the humble forms appear:

That last one catches people, because 膳 (zen) is the counter for pairs of chopsticks — not 本, not つ. 二膳お願いします (ni-zen onegai shimasu) is "two pairs please". You can also hold up fingers and be understood perfectly.

If you want chopsticks and did not get asked: お箸をください (o-hashi o kudasai) — "chopsticks please." Polite.

The point card question

• ポイントカードはお持ちですか (pointo kādo wa o-mochi desu ka) — "Do you have a point card?" Keigo.
• ポイントカードはございますか (pointo kādo wa gozaimasu ka) — same meaning. Keigo.
• アプリはお持ちですか (apuri wa o-mochi desu ka) — "Do you have the app?" Keigo.

Answers: 持っていません (motte imasen — "I don't have one"), or simply 大丈夫です. Both are fine, and 大丈夫です is faster.

Each chain runs its own scheme, so a card from one does nothing at another. As a short-term visitor you will almost always be saying no here, which makes it zero-risk 大丈夫です practice.

Paying and the age verification screen

The total arrives first:

• 〜円になります (~ en ni narimasu) — "That comes to ~ yen." Keigo, service register.
• 〜円でございます (~ en de gozaimasu) — same. Keigo, more formal.
• お会計は〜円です (o-kaikei wa ~ en desu) — "The bill is ~ yen." Polite.

Then the payment method:

• お支払いはどうなさいますか (o-shiharai wa dō nasaimasu ka) — "How will you be paying?" Keigo.
• お支払い方法は (o-shiharai hōhō wa) — "Payment method?" Polite, clipped.
• お支払いは (o-shiharai wa) — the same question shortened to three syllables, which is what you will usually hear.

Answers are one word plus で, the particle marking the means by which you do something — the same で as in 電車で行きます, "I go by train". If that logic is shaky, our particles guide covers it properly.

• 現金で (genkin de) — "Cash." Polite enough on its own; add お願いします to be safe.
• カードで (kādo de) — "By card."
• Suicaで (Suika de) — "With Suica." Swap in PASMO, ICOCA or whichever card you carry.
• 電子マネーで (denshi manē de) — "By e-money."
• PayPayで (PeiPei de) — "With PayPay." QR payments are asked for by brand name, not category.

Then the handover:

• 一万円お預かりします (ichi-man-en o-azukari shimasu) — "Taking ten thousand yen." Keigo, humble.
• ちょうどお預かりします (chōdo o-azukari shimasu) — "Exact amount received." Keigo, humble.
• 〜円のお返しです (~ en no o-kaeshi desu) — "~ yen is your change." Keigo.
• レシートはよろしいですか (reshīto wa yoroshii desu ka) — "Do you want the receipt?" Keigo. Answer 大丈夫です or お願いします.

A note Japanese speakers themselves argue about: 預かる means holding something you will give back, so ちょうどお預かりします is illogical for exact payment — 頂戴します (chōdai shimasu, "I receive") is the strictly correct verb. You will hear the illogical version everywhere anyway.

The age screen. Buy beer, chūhai, sake or cigarettes and the small display on the counter flips to face you. Staff will say 年齢確認をお願いします (nenrei kakunin o onegai shimasu) — "age confirmation, please" — or 画面にタッチしてください (gamen ni tatchi shite kudasai) — "please touch the screen". You tap the button confirming you are 20 or over, which is the legal age for alcohol and tobacco in Japan. It is a self-declaration built into the till, not a challenge, and no ID is normally requested.

Every staff line and your answer

The whole script in one place. Print it, photograph it, or read it on the train in.

Why daijobu desu does most of the work

大丈夫です (daijōbu desu) is the phrase to learn first, before any greeting, because it is the polite universal no.

Its literal sense is "it is fine", and that indirectness is why it works as a refusal. Japanese declines sideways: "I don't need it" is correct and heavy-handed, while "it's fine as it is" gets the same result and sounds considerate. Compare:

• 大丈夫です — "I'm fine." Polite, warm, works everywhere. Use this.
• いりません (irimasen) — "I don't need it." Polite in form, blunt in feel. Fine with a vending machine, cold with a person.
• 結構です (kekkō desu) — "That will not be necessary." Formal. Correct, but stiff enough that it can land as displeased.
• お願いします (onegai shimasu) — "Please do." Polite. The yes to all the same questions.

The one trap: 大丈夫です is genuinely ambiguous. Answering 大丈夫です to 温めますか can be read as "no thanks" or as "sure, that's fine", and Japanese speakers hedge it too. The fix costs nothing — pair it with a small head shake or a light hand wave in front of your face for no, or a nod for yes. That gesture is the standard native disambiguator, not a foreigner's crutch.

Also note the same word coming back at you as a question: 大丈夫ですか (daijōbu desu ka) means "are you okay?" — if you drop something or look lost, that is what you will hear.

The keigo that makes staff Japanese sound different

Konbini staff speak a register you will barely ever produce yourself, which is why it sounds like a different language. It splits into two halves, and once you see the split, the lines decode themselves.

Respectful forms (尊敬語) elevate your actions. They describe what the customer does.

• ご利用ですか — ご + 利用 (use). Anything with a ご or お bolted onto the front is pointing at you politely.
• お持ちですか — お + 持ち (having). "Do you have."
• いらっしゃいませ — from いらっしゃる, the respectful verb for coming and being.
• どうなさいますか — なさる is the respectful "to do".

Humble forms (謙譲語) lower their own actions. They describe what the staff member does for you.

• おつけしますか — お + つけ + します. "Shall I attach."
• お入れしますか — "Shall I insert."
• お預かりします — "I receive and hold."
• かしこまりました (kashikomarimashita) — "Certainly, understood." The humble acknowledgement, and the one you will hear after every request.
• お待たせしました — "I have made you wait."

There is a third layer people complain about: バイト敬語 (baito keigo), the part-time-worker register. 〜になります for a price, 〜のほう padding out a noun, よろしかったでしょうか in a past tense that makes no sense. Language columnists have been objecting to it for decades and it is spoken in every store in the country. Learn to hear it; you never need to say it.

The practical takeaway is liberating: this is a recognition problem, not a production problem. Nobody expects a customer to answer keigo with keigo. お願いします, 大丈夫です and ありがとうございます — all plain polite — are the correct and complete customer register.

What to say when you need something

The script covers what staff ask. This covers what you want.

• これください (kore kudasai) — "This one, please." Polite. Point at the hot case for karaage, nikuman or oden. Add をお願いします if you want it softer: これをお願いします.
• 温めてください (atatamete kudasai) — "Please heat this up." Polite.
• 温めなくて大丈夫です (atatamenakute daijōbu desu) — "No need to heat it." Polite.
• 袋をもう一枚ください (fukuro o mō ichi-mai kudasai) — "One more bag, please." Polite.
• 袋を分けてください (fukuro o wakete kudasai) — "Please put them in separate bags." Polite.
• お箸をください (o-hashi o kudasai) — "Chopsticks, please." Polite.
• トイレを借りてもいいですか (toire o karite mo ii desu ka) — "May I use the toilet?" Polite. Japanese uses 借りる, "borrow", for this. The humble version, トイレ、お借りできますか (toire, o-kari dekimasu ka), earns a small smile.
• Suicaにチャージお願いします (Suika ni chāji onegai shimasu) — "Top up my Suica, please." Polite. Hand over the card and the cash together.
• ATMはどこですか (ētīemu wa doko desu ka) — "Where is the ATM?" Polite.
• コピー機はどこですか (kopīki wa doko desu ka) — "Where is the copier?" Polite.
• 〜はありますか (~ wa arimasu ka) — "Do you have ~?" Polite. The all-purpose frame. 切手はありますか (kitte wa arimasu ka) — "Do you have stamps?" You can, in fact, buy stamps at a konbini.

Notice that ください and お願いします do nearly all the work there. Those two endings plus a noun is a complete request in Japanese, which is why they turn up in every situational list, including our 40 travel phrases and the daily conversation phrases set.

How to practise before you go

The bottleneck is your ears, so practise in that direction.

Say the six staff lines out loud yourself. Counter-intuitive, but producing a sentence builds a sharper template for recognising it than hearing it does. Say 袋はご利用ですか ten times at speed and you will catch it in the wild the first time.

Rehearse the answer, not the question. In a real store you have about one second. お願いします and 大丈夫です need to be reflexes, not decisions.

Learn the sound shape, not the words. Real staff compress heavily — お支払いは arrives with its vowels swallowed, and 温めますか often loses its final syllable. If you are still mapping sounds to kana, our hiragana and katakana guide is the place to start.

Get it wrong somewhere safe first. A phrase you have only read has never had to leave your mouth under time pressure. That is what SoraSpeak is for — you speak out loud in the browser, an AI Japanese teacher answers in natural Japanese with subtitles, and corrections come back in simple English while you still remember why you said it that way. Being honest about it: it is new, Japanese-only, and it complements conversation with real people rather than replacing it.

For listening practice with a wider vocabulary, NHK News Web Easy publishes short news stories in simplified Japanese with furigana and audio, free.

The bottom line

The whole konbini script fits on a napkin: 袋 (bag), 温め (heat), お箸 (chopsticks), ポイントカード (points), 年齢確認 (age), お支払い (payment). Six nouns. Hear the noun, and you have understood the sentence without parsing the keigo wrapped around it.

Your half is smaller still: お願いします for yes, 大丈夫です for no, これください to ask for something, ありがとうございます on the way out. Four phrases, and you can complete every transaction in the country.

Then keep going. The Japan Foundation publishes learner materials organised around real situations rather than grammar order, which is the logic this guide is built on. If you are aiming at a certificate too, the official JLPT site lists the levels — worth knowing that it tests reading and listening only, so nothing in it will ever ask you to answer 袋はご利用ですか out loud.

The natural next counter is a restaurant, where the script is longer and the questions branch — that one runs from door to bill in Japanese restaurant phrases for ordering. If a festival is next instead, ordering at a matsuri yatai is a louder, more casual version of the same skill. And if the problem is not vocabulary but the blank moment when someone speaks to you, that has its own fix: how to stop freezing when speaking Japanese.

🗣️ Six questions, two answers, said out loud until they are reflexes. Practise speaking Japanese free →

SoraSpeak is an independent Japanese speaking-practice app. Example sentences are written for learners; natural usage can vary by context and region.

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