How to introduce yourself in Japanese (Easy to detailed self introduction)
Whatever your reason for learning Japanese, you will probably end up in a lot of situations where you need to introduce yourself. Therefore, we have compiled a few sentence structures, some vocabulary and other important points you can use for your own self-introduction.
The very first word you will need to start your self-introduction with is “初めまして (Nice to meet you)”. Saying “初めまして” is considered polite upon meeting someone for the first time and will help you leave a good impression.
初めまして。
Nice to meet you, something you say upon meeting someone for the first time
[Stating your name]
After beginning with “初めまして”, the natural thing to do next is telling the other person your name. There are several ways to say your name:
私は＿＿＿です。
I am ＿＿＿.
私＿＿＿と言
I am called ＿＿＿.
私の名前は＿＿＿です。
My name is ＿＿＿.
So, for example, you can say: “私はしほです。 (My name is Shiho)”. If you have a name other than your real name that you would like to be called, e.g. a nickname, you can follow up by saying the following:
私の名前は＿＿＿です。＿＿＿と呼んで下さい。
My name is ＿＿＿. Please call me ＿＿＿.
So, for example you could say:
私の名前はしほです。クラーラと呼んで下さい。
My name is Shiho. Please call me Clara.
[Stating where you are from]
The next thing to do is let everyone know where you are from. For the place, you can use your country or hometown, depending on the situation you are introducing yourself in. Usually, as a foreigner in Japan, it is most common to state your country.
私は＿＿＿出身です。
I am from ＿＿＿.
If where you were born/are from originally and where you currently live are two different places, you can follow up by specifically stating where you are residing at the moment:
今は＿＿＿に住んでいます。
Currently I am living in ＿＿＿.
So to give you an example, you could say:
私は東京出身です。今は大阪に住んでいます。
I am from Tokyo. Currently I am living in Osaka.
[Stating your occupation]
Next up, you can let everyone know what your current occupation is. The hard thing about this might actually be knowing what your own occupation means in Japanese, so don’t forget to look it up beforehand! Also, see the different version for stating when you are a student and what you are studying:
仕事は＿＿＿です。
I work as a/an ＿＿＿.
大学で＿＿＿を勉強しています。
I study ＿＿＿ at university.
You can follow up on this and give more specifics by mentioning where exactly you work.
職場は＿＿＿にあります。
I work as a/an ＿＿＿.
So for example, you could say:
仕事は中学校の先生です。職場は京都にあります。
I work as a middle school teacher. My workplace is in Kyoto.
大学で経済を勉強しています。
I study economics at university.
You can also combine stating your work and workplace in one sentence. In that case, please try using the following sentence.
仕事は＿＿＿で、＿＿＿の近くで働いています。
I work as a/an ＿＿＿ and my workplace is near ＿＿＿.
[Stating your hobbies]
The next part is really important. To have everyone know what kind of person you are, you can talk about your hobbies or other important things in your life. You can also line up several hobbies by using the particles “と” or “や”.
趣味は＿＿＿です。
My hobby is ＿＿＿.
趣味は＿＿＿と＿＿＿です。
My hobbies are ＿＿＿ and ＿＿＿.
So for example, you could say:
趣味は旅行することと絵を描くことです。
My hobbies are traveling and painting.
If you have a lot of hobbies, it’s best not to say them all in one sentence. If you have a wide variety of interests and would like to introduce them all, say your most favorite ones first. Then you continue the sentence with “あとは (Furthermore)”. See the example below:
My hobbies are watching movies, painting, and photography. Furthermore, I like shopping and traveling.
If you would like to elaborate even further, you can explain why exactly you like these things. Since Japan values food very highly, something that can also be mentioned when introducing yourself is what kind of food you like or dislike.
好食べ物は＿＿＿です。
My favorite food is ＿＿＿.
嫌いな食べ物は＿＿＿です。
Food I dislike is ＿＿＿.
Furthermore, you could talk about what you like to do on your day off. That way, you can give people an idea as to what you are up to on weekends and try to let them know what kind of person you are.
休みの日にはよく＿＿＿をします。
On my day off I like to ＿＿＿.
Example:
休みの日にはジムに行って、運動をします。
On my day off I like to go to the gym and work out.
[Wrapping up]
Since most of you reading this article are probably Japanese learners, one final thing you can let everyone know is why you started learning Japanese. Mostly every Japanese person will be curious about this, so here is how it goes:
日本語を勉強し始めたきっかけは＿＿＿です。
The reason I started learning Japanese is ＿＿＿.
Example:
日本語勉強し始めたきっかけは、日本のアニメが好きだからです。
The reason I started learning Japanese is because I like Anime.
Now, the final step of your self-introduction is wrapping everything up and giving it a natural sounding ending. There are several ways you can end your self-introduction naturally. Pick one of the following:
よろしくお願いします。
Rough translation: I look forward to working with you/Please treat me well.
これで終わります。
That’s it!
以上です。
That’s all (very formal).
“以上です” is a somewhat stiff, formal way of ending your self-introduction. It’s best used in very formal settings, e.g. at your workplace if it has a rather formal environment.
Lastly, why don’t you revise Shiho’s own self-introduction and see if you can come up with something similar?
