While visiting any non-English-speaking country, it’s always a great idea to learn a few words to use. Locals appreciate the effort when hearing someone attempting to speak their native language, and could always lead to a story you can share!

Japanese is intimidating, especially for English speakers (or any European language). Since the writing system, grammar, etc., is completely different. But what if I told you you already know hundreds of Japanese words? You would think I have lost my mind or gone off the deep end!

After this post, you will know more than enough words in Japanese that you can easily order food or ask where the toilet is in Japanese! These are incredibly useful when visiting Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, or anywhere else in Japan. After this, you can read our guides to Basic Japanese Phrases and Phrases for Dining at Tokyo Disney Resort!

If you’re wanting to continue your Japanese learning, we highly recommend Genki Textbooks as they are one of the best textbooks out there for learning Japanese.

Gairaigo and Wasei-eigo

Before getting into the words, briefly explain Gairaigo and Wasei-eigo. Gairaigo (外来語) are loanwords from English and other European Languages (this does not include Chinese words), written in Katakana phonetics. These are the easiest words to learn since you know most of them already. An example of this is kōra (コーラ), which means “Cola” or “Coke.”

Then we have Wasei-eigo (和製英語), which are Japanese words that sound like they come from English origin but do not. An example of this is reberu appu (レベルアップ), or “to go up a level”. We would never say this in English, but after a quick explanation, it is rather easy to understand and remember.

Easy-to-Learn Words

Alright, now let’s get down to business. Here’s a list of words you can easily learn in less than a day. A lot of these words you already know, or after a simple explanation, you can easily remember. Simply saying these words without much grammar will usually have you understood by a native speaker.

Just remember that pronunciation sounds strange to our ears but sounds normal to Japanese speakers. In contrast, pronunciation goes beyond the scope of this post. If you wish to learn how to, we highly recommend this resource.

These words are easily applied at Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, and Universal Studios Japan. You will notice a few words that you wouldn’t necessarily use at the parks but are useful throughout Japan (if you are travelling to other parts of the country and you really should). We also created a printable PDF of the table below, so you can easily bring it!

You’ll notice I omitted phrases such as “hello” and “thank you.” Those are covered in our basics phrases post, which I recommend reading.