22 Awesome Ways To Say: How Are You in Japanese

1. お元気ですか?

• O Genki desu ka?
• How are you (polite)

Asking about their “genki-ness” – How are you?
This is #1 most common way to way to ask how someone is in Japanese. You’ll read this in every textbook and hear this in every lesson. Genki simply means “lively” or “healthy.”Here’s the polite version to use for strangers and older people.

By the way, you should also hear real Japanese and its sounds.

So, if you’re interested, here’s a quick lesson greetings from JapanesePod101.

• Japanese Lesson – Where Are You From?
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2. 元気？

• Genki?
• How are you? (casual)

Here’s the casual way to use with friends. All you have to do is say this with a question tone.

3. 元気だった?

• Genki datta?
• Have you been well?

Another variation is… Have you been well? The difference here is that this is in the past tense. You want to know how they’ve been.

4. 最近はどうですか?

• Saikin wa dou desu ka?
• How are you recently?
  • How have you been recently?

This is another way to ask about them. In this case, you want to know how they are recently. Note, if you noticed above, keep the “desu ka” and it’s polite. Remove the “desu ka” and it’s casual.

5. 最近どう?

• Saikin dou?
• How are you recently? (casual)

And here’s the casual way. You can also say “sakin wa dou” but “wa” can get dropped. Casual is all about dropping words.

Or even more casual, here are some other variants of “How are you” in Japanese.

6. Dou yo?

• Dou yo?
• How’s it going? (super casual)

Yo is added for extra enthusiasm.

7. 気分はどうですか? How do you feel?

• Kibun wa dou desu ka?
• How do you feel?

Kibun means mood or feeling. So this question literally asks how your mood or feelings are. This is more about health and well-being (physical or emotional), rather than just asking “how are things?“

8. 気分どう?

• Kibun dou?
• 気分どう?

And more casually…

9. 調子はどうですか?

• Choushi wa dou desu ka?
• How’s it going? (polite)

Choushi means condition. You can only ask this when there’s implied context or some understood situation. For example, if your friend is sick… and you ask him that, you’re referring to his sickness. If your friend is busy at work, this means you want to know about things going on with his work situation.

10. 調子はどう?

• Choushi wa dou?
• 調子はどう? (casual)

And more casually, drop the “desu ka?”

11. どうしたんですか?

• Dou shitan desu ka?
• What’s wrong?

Another good way to say how are you in Japanese. And yes, this should be used in negative situations when you think something is wrong.

12. どうしたの？

• Dou shita no?
• What’s wrong?

And more casually (you can even drop the “no”).

13. 何事だ？

• Nani koto da?
• What’s goin’ on? (super casual)

Super casual. When you just want to find out what things have been going on.

14. 今なにしてるの?

• Ima nani shiteruno?
• What are you up to right now?

Very common question among friends. Although it’s not an obvious “how are you,” it’s another variation of find out what’s going on with your friend.

15. 私はただあなたの本当の気持ちが知りたいだけだよ。

• Watashi tada anata no hontou no kimochi ga shiritai dake dayo.
• All I want is to know how you really feel.

Now this is a pretty serious way to ask “how are you.” Most people aren’t direct. Ask them directly how they feel. But this is too direct of a phrase for Japanese natives to use, so keep that in mind.

16. 久しぶり！

• Hisashiburi!
• 久しぶり！
• How have you been? (Long time no see!)

Technically, hisashiburi means “long time no see.” However, it can be interpreted as “how’ve you been?” Use it when you haven’t seen someone in a while!

17. 心の声を聞かせて。

• Kokoro no koe o kikasete.
• Tell me how you really feel.

If translated literally, it’s “tell me your heart’s voice.” However, you should know that you can’t be literally translating stuff – you’re not capturing the intended meaning.

18. なんか面白いことあった？

• Nanka omoshiro koto atta?
• Anything interesting?

This is super casual. It’s like asking “what’s the good news” or “anything good happen lately? It’s a way to dig for positive news in Japanese.

• Saikin nani shite-imasuka?
• How are things going recently? What are you doing recently? (polite)

Here, you’re simply asking what they’ve been doing (shite-imasu) recently (saikin). Just another variation of things you’ve learned before.

20. 元気かい?

• Genki kai?
• Hey, whats up? How are ya? (very casual)

This is super colloquial and casual. You’ll see “kai” which is the colloquial for “desu ka.” Do NOT use it this outside of friends.

21. どうだい?

• Dou dai?
• How’s things? How’s it going? (very casual)

Again, super casual and worthy of it’s own entry. You know “dou” but “dai?” “Dai” is a colloquial version for “dayo.” Again, don’t use this outside of your friends.

22. 最近なんか変わったことある?

• Saikin nanka kawatta koto aru?
• Anything new recently? (casual)

Here, you’re asking if there’s any thing (koto) that has been changed (kawatta).

Conclusion

And that’s it!

You’re done.Do you know of any other ways to ask how are you in Japanese? Please leave a comment below. I read all comments and I will add your suggestions to this list! Let’s make it a big one.Feel free to share or print this article for your own review!

The Main Junkie

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