How to say “Hello” in Japanese

こんにちは (konnichiwa) is the word phrasebooks translate as "hello," but it's anchored to the daytime — roughly late morning to sunset. Before that, the greeting is おはようございます; after dark, こんばんは. Walk into a morning meeting with こんにちは and you haven't been rude, just noticeably off — like wishing someone good afternoon at 8 a.m.

Unusually for a Japanese greeting, こんにちは has no polite/casual split — the same form serves both registers, with no ございます version to add or drop. The nuance sits elsewhere: it's a touch neutral-formal, the greeting for neighbors, shopkeepers, and acquaintances. Close friends often skip it entirely in favor of a name, a wave, or a やっほー — greeting your best friend with a crisp こんにちは can feel oddly distant, like shaking hands with your sibling.

One spelling note that doubles as a pronunciation note: it's written こんにちは, ending in the character は, but pronounced "wa." The phrase is historically a fragment — 今日は, "as for this day..." — so the final character is the topic particle は, which is read wa. Native speakers typo it as こんにちわ often enough that it's a running joke online, but は is the correct spelling. Say it aloud and the trap disappears; it only catches people who learned the word by reading it.