Beginner Guide to Konbini

In a Japanese convenience store (コンビニ), you might get bombarded with a series of questions like “would you like a plastic bag” or “do you want me to put hot and cold products into separate bags?” It seems like many non-Japanese natives in Japan don’t know how to properly answer such questions. They often just say はい or いいえ for the answer, but these answers could confuse the clerk. Just like in English people would say “Yes, please” or “No, thanks”, Japanese store clerks expect you to say more than just “yes” or ”no”. In This video, I will explain how to answer the most common questions in Japanese convenience store.

[kanamenaito]

Examples transcript:
お弁当は温めますか？

おしぼりはお付つけいたしますか？

温かいものと冷たいもの一緒にしても大丈夫でしょうか？

はい、お願いします。

はい、そうです。

あります or ないです

ポイントカードはございますか？
はい、あります。

クーポンはございますか？
（いえ）ないです。

ポイントカード
会員証・メンバーカード

〜はございますか？
〜はありますか？
〜はお持ちでしょうか？

割引券はお持ちでしょうか？
はい、あります。

はい、お願いします。

大丈夫です。

いいです。

お弁当は温めますか？
大丈夫です。

〜ますか？

お弁当は温めますか？

お箸はお付けいたしますか？

はい、お願いします。

いくつお付けいたしますか？

ひとつ・ふたつ・みっつ・よっつ・いつつ

ひとつお願いします。
ふたつお願いします。
みっつお願いします。

一膳・二膳・三膳

ビールひとつください！
ビールふたつください！

ビール一杯ください！
ビール二杯ください！

ビール一本ください！
ビール二本ください！

〜は必要でしょうか？

おしぼりは必要でしょうか？
はい、お願いします。

ひとつお願いします。
ふたつお願いします。
みっつお願いします。

（いえ）大丈夫です。

〜はお使いでしょうか？

袋はお使いでしょうか？

はい、お願いします。
いえ、大丈夫です。

レジ袋はお使いでしょうか？

はい、お願いします。

袋はお分けしますか？

はい、お願いします。
大丈夫です。

袋はお分けしますか？
大丈夫です。

温かいものと冷たいもの一緒にしても大丈夫ですか？
大丈夫です。
分けてください。

温かいものと冷たいもの一緒に入れても大丈夫ですか？
すいません、分けてください。

ポイントカードはお持ちですか？
いえ、ないです。
お弁当は温めますか？
はい、お願いします。
おにぎりは温めますか？
いえ、大丈夫です。
お箸はお付けいたしますか？
はい、お願いします。
おしぼりはお付けいたしますか？
はい、お願いします。
スプーンとフォークはお使いですか？
いえ、大丈夫です。
レジ袋はお使いになりますか？
はい、お願いします。
温かいものと冷たいもの一緒に入れても大丈夫ですか？
大丈夫です。
ストローはお使いでしょうか？
はい、お願いします。
レシートはお使いでしょうか？
いえ、大丈夫です。
ありがとうございました。
どういたしまして。

ありがとうございました。
どういたしましてー！
うふふ。ねえ、今の聞いた？「どういたしまして」だって。
なんかあの人かわいいね。すごく面白そうだし。
いや、ただのばかじゃない？

[taylorfourt]

the real gem of this is kaname giving me the excuse to stop trying to learn counters once and for all

[ViperOfMino]

Taking the time to point out the differences between "textbook speak" and "real life speak" (counting the chopsticks) is one of the reasons I love this channel so much, man.

Oh my god, the "don't worry too much about counting words" might be the best news I've heard all year!!!

[ronkaleon]

"kinda cute and funny lol"
"Nah. He just stuuuupid!"
XDD

[hackptui]

I wish the konbini workers I've spoken to spoke as clearly as Kaname. They always mumble and I'm lucky to even hear "fukuro".

[Entropic_Alloy]

This makes a lot of sense. It is very similar to some parts of the US. Saying "yes" or "no" by themselves is a little rude. So it is more polite to be like, "yes, please" or "no, thank you."

[awzap]

This is giving me psychic backlash cringe damage.
I know I answered Konbini questions wrong each and every time I was asked XD I could tell based on the clerk's reaction/confusion.
Despite googling "how to answer" better, I never saw these examples.
Thank you.

[--Lucy--]

Honestly, just get this man a trophy, his way to teach japanese really makes it looks simple and fun, I love Kaname videos

[foogod]

Something else to be careful of: I was aware of this myself but still got caught up by it a couple of times when I wasn't paying close attention. Sometimes, the cashiers will ask questions in a more polite way that ends up phrasing the question as a negative instead. In this case, the *meaning of はい and いいえ actually become reversed* when responding to it.

For example, this situation actually happened to me once:

Cashier: 袋にお入れしませんか? ("would you like me to put it in a bag?", but actually literally saying: "Should I *not* put it in a bag?")
Me: はい (intending "yes, I would like a bag", but actually telling her "yes, it's correct that you should *not* do that")
Cashier: (hands me back my items without a bag)
Me: (looks confused for a minute, then has to apologetically fumble through explaining that I actually did want a bag, and go through a separate transaction to pay the extra few yen for one, etc.)

This is another good reason why you should actually say things like お願いします and 大丈夫です instead of はい and いいえ, as it likely would have avoided this problem entirely in this situation...

[Boomdizzle]

Conbini conversation like this is something ive been looking for in videos on youtube for a long time. So far youre the only one who has really done it in a way that really prepares you for this experience.

I had to learn through trial and error on my own in the past (one other video went over this too but over complicated it) on how to approach these situations. This is a really great refresher for me and something to come back and watch again to really get it down for my future trips to Japan

[zoeherriot]

My Japanese wife got angry with me for answering with just 大丈夫です。She said it was ambiguous, because it can mean "no thanks" OR "yes, that would be okay". She suggested making sure you hold your hand up to emphasise you mean no.

[moebius]

I just discovered this channel, you’re amazing and btw I think that this video should be played on every plane to japan alongside the safety instructions for the flight.

[bigpappasmoggie]

My use of 大丈夫 on my recent (and first ever trip) to japan felt like i unlocked a secret weapon. A universal tool fit for any occasion :D

[insanitypepper]

This may be one of the most useful Japanese learning videos to ever be on YouTube.

[Spiriax]

This reminds me of the plastic bag situation when I lived in Japan, I just couldn't figure out how to respond to it. They would ask おふくろがいりますか roughly translating to "Do you need a plastic bag/Is there a need for a plastic bag", but I think I misheard everytime that they said おふくろがありますか as in like "is there a plastic bag/do you already have a plastic bag". I would give the wrong answer and times when I needed it but didn't get one I would ask again, lol.

Then one day I was like "They're saying いれます!!!" like this big epiphany, and I thought it was 入れます as in "to put something in". So then I started to believe what they asked was "should I put it in a plastic bag/do you need it put into a plastic bag". Once I responded with はい、入れてください (in other words, "yes, please put it in"). She laughed behind the counter.

Eventually I figured out いる means "to need/to be required" and it's different from いる "to exist/to be". So I would respond either はい、いります or いや、大丈夫です depending on if I needed it or not. I loved those exchanges so much at the Konbini, haha.

[xakirakunx]

Yup, completely agree with everything being taught in the video. This is really very useful for those who are just starting out and aren't used to Japanese language.

I used to manage convenience stores in Tokyo and everything that he says is exactly how most conversations at the registers go.

If you want to sound natural, that's how to achieve it.

Just a small trivia (sort of), if you are the one behind the register, you may encounter something like, そのままで, or そのままで大丈夫です which can also be taken as "I don't need a bag". This is quite commonly used.

[ryanramsey]

I’ve lived in Japan for 2 years and it has taken me way to long to figure out the konbini questions. I’m finally able to (sort of) get by but I often don’t completely understand what the employees ask me.

If I had this video 2 years ago it would have helped me so much and I wish I had it sooner. Still though, thank you for making this video! It’s the best I have seen on this topic!

I love your videos. They are so helpful and really easy to understand and learn from.

Please keep making them!

[Jim_mears]

“Kono mama de daijobu desu ne” (it’s fine as it is) is a reasonable way to clarify that you don’t need your food warming up, or in a bag, or with sauce, or whatever - basically whenever someone offers to change the state of something for you. (‘Mama’ is pronounced with a slightly different tone than ‘Mama’ meaning ‘mother’)

[georacer]

レジ人: Would you like a plastic baggu
外国人:大丈夫です
レジ人：日本語上手ですね