Q: Hey Richard I love your website! But however I have a quick question. I might be going to Japan soon and I’m worried that I would pronounce things wrong of say something I didn’t mean/get lost Yikes! What is some simple Kanji for Women’s bathroom or Men’s bathroom, or maybe even just some basic “must know” things. Thanks! -  Jackie

First of all don’t worry about pronouncing things wrong, people will often assume you speak no Japanese at all ( I even get that after doing an hour’s presentation in Japanese!) so any mistakes will be politely ignored!

With regards the bathrooms, the two kanji you need are:

女　(onnna = women’s bathroom)

男　(otoko = men’s bathroom)

Hopefully they should be easy to remember!

You should be fine to get around with little Japanese, maybe the word that will give you the most mileage is:

ありがとう　= a ri ga to u = thank you!

Be genki,

Richard

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