You’re Welcome in Japanese: Casual and Formal Phrases

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どういたしまして (dō itashimashite) is the familiar way to say “you’re welcome” in Japanese. It is correct, useful and easy to recognise. But a close friend, a colleague and a customer may each call for a different response.

If you want the short version, start with these:

• Neutral and polite: どういたしまして (dō itashimashite)
• With a friend: ううん、気にしないで (uun, ki ni shinaide), “No, don’t worry about it”
• When the thanks go both ways: こちらこそ、ありがとうございます (kochira koso, arigatō gozaimasu), “I should thank you too”
• When you helped: お役に立ててよかったです (o-yaku ni tatete yokatta desu), “I’m glad I could help”

Japanese has plain and polite styles, along with honorific and humble language. Your relationship, each person’s role and the setting all matter. This guide sorts the replies by situation, so you can learn a small set you will actually use.

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What Does Dō Itashimashite Mean?

どういたしまして is a set response to thanks. In English, “you’re welcome” or “don’t mention it” usually gives the right idea. Treat it as one complete expression rather than trying to build new sentences from a word-for-word translation.

Here is the basic exchange:

• A: ありがとうございます。
  Arigatō gozaimasu.
  Thank you.
• B: どういたしまして。
  Dō itashimashite.
  You’re welcome.

You will see it written without macrons as dou itashimashite. Both romanisations point to どういたしまして. The macron in dō marks a long vowel, while itashimashite stays together as one word.

This is a safe phrase for many polite exchanges. With a close friend, it can sound more formal or set than a short reply such as 気にしないで (ki ni shinaide), “don’t worry about it”.

How to Remember Dō Itashimashite

A friend taught me a silly Mario-based mnemonic for this phrase more than 15 years ago, and it certainly made the sequence stick. The English sounds were only a rough match, though, so I would not use that mnemonic as a pronunciation guide.

For the Japanese rhythm, read the hiragana in even beats:

ど・う・い・た・し・ま・し・て
do-u-i-ta-shi-ma-shi-te

Hold the vowel in ど for an extra beat in どう, and do not put a break inside いたしまして. Listen to the complete phrase, repeat it, then practise it as the second half of ありがとうございます → どういたしまして.

Casual Ways to Say “You’re Welcome”

With friends and family, a short response often fits better than the textbook phrase. Imagine that a friend says:

手伝ってくれてありがとう。
Tetsudatte kurete arigatō.
Thanks for helping me.

You could reply with one of these:

• ううん、気にしないで。
  Uun, ki ni shinaide.
  No, don’t worry about it.
• いいよ。
  Ii yo.
  It’s fine. / No problem.
• 大丈夫だよ。
  Daijōbu da yo.
  It’s okay.
• いつでも声をかけてね。
  Itsudemo koe o kakete ne.
  Feel free to ask me anytime.
• こっちこそ、ありがとう。
  Kocchi koso, arigatō.
  No, thank you.

大丈夫 (daijōbu) has several meanings, including “I’m okay” and “that’s fine”, so the situation and tone do some of the work. こっちこそ (kocchi koso) is a casual form of こちらこそ (kochira koso) and fits when both people have something to thank each other for.

A bare うん (un), “yeah”, or はーい (hāi), an informal drawn-out “yes”, may acknowledge what somebody said. Neither one is a general translation of “you’re welcome”, so learn it from a real exchange rather than as a stand-alone vocabulary pair.

Polite Ways to Respond to Thanks

For a classmate, colleague or someone you do not know well, these replies give you more room than one all-purpose translation:

• いえいえ。
  Ie ie.
  Not at all.
• どういたしまして。
  Dō itashimashite.
  You’re welcome.
• とんでもないです。
  Tondemo nai desu.
  Not at all. / Don’t mention it.
• お役に立ててよかったです。
  O-yaku ni tatete yokatta desu.
  I’m glad I could help.
• こちらこそ、ありがとうございます。
  Kochira koso, arigatō gozaimasu.
  I should thank you too.

こちらこそ is for mutual gratitude. If a colleague thanks you for helping with a shared project, it can acknowledge their contribution too. It is less suitable when only one person received the favour.

遠慮しないでください (enryo shinaide kudasai) means “please don’t hesitate” or “please don’t hold back”. You can use it to invite somebody to ask again, but it is not a direct substitute for “you’re welcome”.

Formal Japanese Responses

In a formal workplace or customer-facing exchange, a response that describes your help can fit better than a literal “you’re welcome”. Useful options include:

• とんでもないことでございます。
  Tondemo nai koto de gozaimasu.
  Not at all.
• お役に立てて何よりです。
  O-yaku ni tatete nani yori desu.
  I’m very glad I could help.
• こちらこそ、ありがとうございます。
  Kochira koso, arigatō gozaimasu.
  Thank you as well.

Formality is not a simple friend-versus-boss switch. The service relationship, workplace conventions and the exact favour all matter. If you use Japanese professionally, check the phrase against the language used in your own organisation.

These choices sit inside 敬語 (keigo), the wider system of polite language. 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) is honorific language used to raise the person you are talking about, while 謙譲語 (kenjōgo) is humble language used for your own side. Our Japanese honorifics guide explains the distinction in more detail.

When “Thank You” or Otsukaresama Fits Better

Some phrases appear near expressions of thanks without meaning “you’re welcome”. Keeping their jobs separate will make your reply clearer.

こちらこそ、ありがとうございます returns the thanks when the gratitude is mutual. A casual version is こっちこそ、ありがとう (kocchi koso, arigatō).

お疲れ様です (otsukaresama desu) and お疲れ様でした (otsukaresama deshita) acknowledge somebody’s work or effort. Colleagues use them in greetings and when work finishes, but they are not translations of “you’re welcome”. After completing a task together, you might say:

こちらこそ、ありがとうございました。お疲れ様でした。
Kochira koso, arigatō gozaimashita. Otsukaresama deshita.
Thank you as well. Good work today.

おかげさまで (okage-sama de) credits somebody’s support for a good result. It usually continues into a statement, as in おかげさまで、無事に終わりました (okage-sama de, buji ni owarimashita), “Thanks to your help, it finished successfully.” It is not a stand-alone “you’re welcome”.

Regional Ways to Say “You’re Welcome”

Depending on where you travel, you may hear regional forms alongside Standard Japanese. Tokyo dialect is 東京弁 (Tōkyō-ben). Standard Japanese is 標準語 (hyōjungo), while the related term 共通語 (kyōtsūgo) means “common language”. These terms overlap in history and use, but they are not interchangeable names for Tokyo dialect.

A few responses you may hear include:

• かまへん (kamahen): “It’s fine” or “no problem” in Kansai speech
• なんもなんも (nanmo nanmo): “It was nothing” or “don’t mention it”, associated with Hokkaidō speech
• がんちがでぃ (ganchigadi): “Don’t mention it” or “happy to help” in the Yoron language variety

Regional language carries local identity and its own register. Recognising a form does not mean it will sound natural from every speaker, so listen to how people in that community use it before adding it to your active vocabulary.

Okinawa is also home to Okinawan (沖縄語), one of the Ryukyuan languages. It is a distinct language within the Japonic family, not simply another name for “Okinawa dialect”.

Choose Your Reply by Situation

1. A close friend thanks you for a small favour: try ううん、気にしないで.
2. A classmate or colleague thanks you: use いえいえ, どういたしまして or お役に立ててよかったです.
3. You both contributed: use こちらこそ、ありがとうございます.
4. A customer or senior colleague thanks you formally: お役に立てて何よりです is a useful service-focused response.
5. You are acknowledging shared work: お疲れ様です may belong in the exchange, but it does a different job from “you’re welcome”.

Practise the thank-you and reply as one pair. Pick a real person and favour, say both sides aloud, then check your choice with a teacher or conversation partner. That makes the relationship and setting part of what you remember.

For your next step, learn how to say “thank you” in Japanese, then explore more Japanese words and phrases and our guide to Japanese culture.