traffic light -- shingou crossing, intersection -- kousaten corner -- kado park -- kouen police box -- kouban parking lot -- chuushajou bus stop -- basu noriba taxi stand -- takushii noriba mail box -- posuto telephone -- denwa subway station -- chikatetsu no eki toilet -- toire or: o-tearai book store -- hon-ya bakery -- pan-ya flower store -- hana-ya bank -- ginkou fish store -- sakana-ya meat store -- niku-ya post office -- yuubinkyoku gas station -- gasorin sutando shoe store -- kutsu-ya drug store -- kusuri-ya supermarket -- suupaa coffee shop -- kissaten department store -- depaato map -- chizu map of Japantown -- nihonmachi no chizu ward office -- kuyakusho school -- gakkou hospital -- byouin church -- kyoukai library -- toshokan street -- michi street -- toori (Hiragana exception: oo) NOTE: compound like "Pine Street" toori becomes doori (Hiragana exception: oo) Excuse me, where is the post office? -- Sumimasen, yuubinkyoku wa doko desu ka. NOTE: [Place you want to go] wa doko desu ka. Excuse me, where is the hospital? (polite form) -- Sumimasen, byouin wa doko deshou ka. NOTE: deshou sounds more polite than desu. Excuse me, where is the restroom? -- Sumimasen, o-tearai wa doko desu ka. Excuse me, I'd like to go the ward office... -- Sumimasen, kuyakusho e ikitai-n desu ga...NOTE: the -masu is dropped in ikimasu and -tai-n desu ga...is added to soften, to ask more indirectly. I'd like to go... -- ikitai-n desu ga very close -- soba in front of -- mae next to -- tonari next door neighbor -- tonari no hito after, beyond -- saki before (very close to you) -- temae nearby, close, near -- chikaku behind -- ushiro across the street -- mukai (-gawa) inside -- naka outside -- soto on the same side -- narabi side -- yoko right -- migi the right side -- migi-gawa left -- hidari the left side -- hidari-gawa between A and B -- A to B no aida on, above -- ue under -- shita beyond that intersection -- ano kousaten no saki the right side of this street -- kono toori no migi-gawa The ward office is next to the post office. -- Kuyakusho wa yuubinkyoku no tonari desu. NOTE: [Place you want to go to] wa [landmark/point of reference] no [positional word] desu. The flower store is on the same side of (the street as) the post office (is). -- Hana-ya wa yuubinkyoku no narabi desu. The ward office is beyond that traffic light. -- Kuyakusho wa ano shingou no saki desu. here, this direction (close to the speaker) -- kotchi; kochira (more formal) there, that direction (close to the listener) -- sotchi; sochira (more formal) over there, that direction (away from speaker and listener) -- atchi; achira (more formal) where?, which direction? -- dotchi; dochira (more formal) The hospital is in that direction. -- Byouin wa atchi desu. here (close to the speaker) -- koko there (close to the listener or closer than asoko=over there) -- soko over there (away from both the listener and the speaker) -- asoko where? -- doko right there -- sugu soko this side -- kotchi-gawa that side -- atchi-gawa the street in front of the shoe store -- kutsu-ya no mae no michi (o) the first (in the sequence) -- hitotsu-me no NOTE: 1+counter+me+no+noun or 1+ban+me+no+noun the second (in the sequence) -- futatsu-me no the third (in the sequence) -- mittsu-me no the corner at the second traffic light -- futatsu-me no shingou no kado Where are you now? I'm at the school now. -- Ima doko ni imasu ka. (or: Ima doko desu ka.) Ima gakkou ni imasu. (or: Ima gakkou desu.) Do you know where the hospital is? Yes, I do. (asking if the person knows where a particular landmark is to give directions) -- Byouin wa wakarimasu ka. Hai, wakarimasu. Do you know where the post office is? Well, I'm not sure. -- Yuubinkyoku wa wakarimasu ka. Chotto wakarimasen ga... Go straight. -- Massugu itte kudasai. NOTE: itte(to go) = te-form of verb is used to connect verbs, example: tabemate nomimasu = eat and drink Go straight along this street. -- Kono michi o massugu itte kudasai. (o=route marker) Turn left at the traffic light. -- Shingou o hidari e magatte kudasai. NOTE: X+o(route marker)+direction+e(direction marker)+magatte kudasai. Then, you will see the post office on your right. -- Sousuruto migi-gawa ni yuubinkyoku ga arimasu. NOTE: Sousuruto, [location] ni [landmark] ga arimasu. Here "arimasu" means "there is"; marker ni is used to indicate excistence and location of a thing. then (when you have done that) -- sousuruto exist, be (there) -- arimasu Where is Wakou? Do you know where the ward office is? Well, I don't know. Then, go straight along this street. Then, you will see (lit. there is) a department store called Wakou at the corner of the intersection. -- Wakou wa doko deshou ka. Kuyakusho wa wakarimasu ka. Chotto wakarimasen ga. Sore jaa, kono michi o massugu itte kudasai. Sousuruto kousaten no kado ni Wakou to iu depaato ga arimasu. You can't miss it. -- Sugu wakarimasu. Excuse me, is there (lit. isn't there) a mail box around here. -- Sumimasen, kono hen ni posuto wa arimasen ka. NOTE: Sumimasen, [place] ni [something] wa arimasen ka. arimasen(=the neg. form) is used for politeness. The mail box is in front of the station. -- Posuto wa eki no mae ni arimasu. NOTE: [What you are looking for]+wa+[place]+ni arimasu. OR: Eki no mae ni posuto ga arimasu. around this area, in this vicinity -- kono hen ni (or: kono chikaku ni) Isn' t there a telephone around here. -- Kono hen ni denwa wa arimasen ka. I go straight and I'll see the bookstore on the corner of the intersection. (confirmation) -- Massugu itte kousaten no kado ni hon-ya desu ne. I go straight and I'll see Wako on the corner of the intersection; (Mikimoto) is on the same side, right? (confirmatin, summing up) -- Massugu itte, kousaten no kado no Wakou no narabi desu ne. Note: V-te (te-form of verb), [location] no [Y] no [position] desu ne.