Making a Phone Call in Japanese: Openings, Closings, and Taking a Message
Making a phone call in Japanese runs on one organizing idea: the line you use depends on whether the call is personal or business, not on the usual です/ます-versus-plain split.1 A personal call opens with もしもし and plain form. A business call opens with keigo set-phrases, and in that setting もしもし is too casual to use at all.2
Overview: Why the Phone Is a Known Hard Skill
The phone removes every visual cue. There is no face, gesture, or text on a page to lean on. Politeness signals that a learner would normally read from the situation now arrive only as sound.34
That is why the practical register choice on the phone falls into two modes. Decide first whether you are making a personal call or a business call. Then use the matching phrases for each step: opening, self-introduction, asking for someone, leaving a message, and closing.
The Personal vs. Business Axis
Japanese keigo formally splits into five types under the 文化庁 敬語の指針 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Guidelines for Honorifics): 尊敬語 (sonkeigo, respectful) of the いらっしゃる・おっしゃる type, 謙譲語Ⅰ (kenjougo I, humble) of the 伺う・申し上げる type, 謙譲語Ⅱ／丁重語 (kenjougo II / teichougo) of the 参る・申す type, 丁寧語 (teineigo, polite) of the です・ます type, and 美化語 (bikago, beautifying) of the お酒・お料理 type.1
On the phone, the split a learner actually uses is simpler: personal-call register versus business-call register. Personal calls take もしもし plus plain form. Business calls take the keigo set-phrases, and within business mode もしもし itself is judged inappropriate.2
This axis replaces the general です/ます-versus-plain framing for the rest of this article. One more rule sits underneath it.
もしもし is used only to open or check a phone connection. It is never used to greet someone face to face, in either register.4
No Visual Cues, Fast Keigo: The Recognition Burden
The hard part of a business call is not producing the phrases. It is decoding the receiver-side keigo: 席を外しております (away from the desk), 少々お待ちください (please wait a moment), おつなぎします (I will connect you), and 折り返し (call back). These arrive as fixed, fast set-phrases with nothing visual to anchor them.34
There is a grammatical reason these predicates run long. 謙譲語Ⅱ verbs such as 申す, おる, and 参る are normally used with ます attached, per the 敬語の指針. As a result, phone keigo reaches your ear as extended polite predicates (席を外しております, 〜と申します) that you must parse in real time.1
J-Compass treats this listening load as the real N3 difficulty of the phone. Recognition of the keigo set comes before production. You will hear these phrases before you ever need to say them, and that comprehension demand is why the phone feels harder than its phrase list suggests.
Opening the Call
The opening is where the personal-versus-business axis is most visible. One mode begins with もしもし; the other begins with the company name.
The structure of a full call is the same in both registers, even though the wording is not.
Personal Calls: もしもし and Plain Form
With friends and family, the call opens with もしもし and continues in plain form. Casual openers (もしもし, はい, うん) and short plain predicates are the natural choice.54
もしもし、田中だけど。5
"Hi, it's Tanaka."
A common second move is to check whether the timing is convenient. This parallels the business "is X available" slot, but stays short and plain.4
If the line is unclear, the casual check is equally plain.
もしもし、聞こえる？5
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
Business Calls: Company Name First, No もしもし
On a business line the receiver answers with the company name, often after a thank-you. もしもし is dropped entirely.
お電話ありがとうございます。さくら商事でございます。34
"Thank you for calling. This is Sakura Trading."
でございます here is 丁寧語 (teineigo), the higher-formality counterpart to です within the same type per the 敬語の指針.1 It does not show respect toward, or humble, a specific person. It raises the politeness of the whole utterance, which is exactly what answering a company line calls for.
In professional phone answering, もしもし is treated as too casual, even a マナー違反 (manners violation). The company name (はい、〜でございます) or a thank-you (お電話ありがとうございます) takes its place.2
Introducing Yourself
After the line opens, the caller says who they are. The business version names the company before the person. The personal version names neither a company nor a title.
The Business Self-Introduction: 〜会社の〜と申します
The order is company first, then your own name, followed by 〜と申します.
富士システムの佐藤と申します。3
"This is Satō from Fuji Systems."
申す is classified by the 敬語の指針 as 謙譲語Ⅱ／丁重語, the humble-toward-the-listener form of 言う. So 〜と申します is the standard humble way to name yourself.1
An ongoing business relationship is then acknowledged with a fixed opener.
The おります inside お世話になっております is the 謙譲語Ⅱ form of いる, listed alongside 参る and 申す in the 敬語の指針.1 Use お世話になっております when a relationship already exists. お世話になります is the variant for a first or future contact.6
The Personal Self-Introduction: 〜だけど / 〜です
The casual counterpart uses plain だけど or a light です, with no company framing.
あ、私だけど。5
"Oh, it's me."
もしもし、ゆきです。5
"Hi, it's Yuki."
This is the direct personal parallel to 〜会社の〜と申します. It does the same job, telling the other side who is calling, but without the business frame.5
Asking for Someone
Once you have identified yourself, you ask to reach the person you called for. Business Japanese has two standard phrasings for the same request. The casual version drops to plain いる.
〜さんはいらっしゃいますか and 〜さんをお願いします
The first phrasing asks whether the person is present, using the respectful form of いる.
営業部の山田さんはいらっしゃいますか。34
"Is Mr. Yamada in the sales department available?"
いらっしゃる is 尊敬語, listed first in the 敬語の指針 該当語例, and serves as the respectful form of 来る, いる, and 行く.17 So 〜はいらっしゃいますか raises the person being asked about. Literally, it asks whether X is respectfully present.
The second phrasing asks to be connected.
The casual register strips the keigo back to plain いる, the verb that いらっしゃる replaces. That makes the pairing transparent.5
たけし、いる？5
"Is Takeshi there?"
Taking and Leaving a Message
If the person is not available, the call moves to a message or a callback. This step has the densest receiver-side keigo, so it is also where the listening load is heaviest.
Leaving a Message: 伝言をお願いできますか
伝言 (dengon) is the noun "message" or "word to pass on." The caller asks to leave one with a humble request.
The receiver accepts it with 承る, which デジタル大辞泉 lists as the 謙譲語 of 受ける and 聞く ("謹んで受ける・拝聴する," to receive or listen respectfully).8 伝言を承ります means the receiver is humbly taking down what you say.
Requesting a Callback: 折り返しお電話いただけますか
折り返し (orikaeshi) means "by return" or "calling straight back." The caller can ask the other side to return the call.
Alternatively, you can say that you will be the one to call again.
折り返しお電話いただけますか asks the other side to return the call. かけ直します means the caller is committing to call again themselves.534
Receiver-Side Phrases: 少々お待ちください, お電話かわりました
These are the phrases the caller hears rather than says. They tie straight back to the recognition burden: they arrive fast, as units, with no visual support.
The 席を外しております and 外出しております forms use the same 謙譲語Ⅱ おる seen in お世話になっております. This is because the absent colleague is 自分側 (the receiver's in-group) relative to the outside caller.134 When a new person takes the line after a transfer, they mark the handover.
お電話かわりました、山田です。4
"Thank you for holding, this is Yamada."
少々お待ちください and おつなぎします are the hold-and-connect phrases. お電話かわりました marks the moment the line changes hands.34
Closing the Call
Both registers end with a fixed sign-off. The business close also confirms any pending request before the line drops.
Business Closings: 失礼します and よろしくお願いします
A pending request is confirmed first. Then the call ends.
失礼します is the standard business hang-up. いたす is the 謙譲語Ⅱ form of する per the 敬語の指針. So 失礼いたします is the more humble variant of the same close.134
Personal Closings: じゃあね / またね / バイバイ
The casual sign-offs fill the same role as 失礼します, but in plain form.
じゃあね。4
"See ya."
また連絡するね。5
"I'll be in touch."
じゃあね reads as a casual "bye," またね as "see you again," and バイバイ as the loan "bye-bye."4
Full Sample Calls
The two calls below are composites. Each line is a single sourced set-phrase from the sections above, assembled into a natural opening-to-closing flow. Read them as model dialogues, not as attested transcripts. A few connective lines (申し訳ございません, かしこまりました, うん, 大丈夫だよ) are ordinary polite or casual Japanese added so the dialogues flow. They are glue, not target phrases.
The business call runs through the full keigo sequence from opening to close.
A (receiver): お電話ありがとうございます。さくら商事でございます。34
"Thank you for calling. This is Sakura Trading."
B (caller): 富士システムの佐藤と申します。いつもお世話になっております。63
"This is Satō from Fuji Systems. Thank you for your continued business."
B (caller): 営業部の山田さんはいらっしゃいますか。34
"Is Mr. Yamada in the sales department available?"
A (receiver): 申し訳ございません、山田はただいま席を外しております。34
"I'm sorry, Yamada is away from his desk right now."
B (caller): では、折り返しお電話いただけますか。34
"Then, could he call me back?"
A (receiver): かしこまりました。伝言を承ります。83
"Certainly. I will take your message."
B (caller): よろしくお願いいたします。失礼します。34
"Thank you in advance. Goodbye."
The personal call follows the same sequence in plain form, but is much shorter.
A (receiver): もしもし。5
"Hello?"
B (caller): もしもし、ゆきだけど、今ちょっといい？54
"Hi, it's Yuki. Is now an okay time?"
A (receiver): うん、大丈夫だよ。5
"Yeah, it's fine."
B (caller): また後で連絡するね。5
"I'll get in touch again later."
A (receiver): じゃあね。4
"See ya."
Good to know
もしもし comes from doubled 申し, the humble "to say"
もしもし is a shortened, doubled form of 申し (mōshi), the connective of 申す ("to say," humble): 「申し（もうし）を連ね短縮された言葉」 (a word shortened by repeating 申し).9 Reference works cited by the National Diet Library reference database trace it to operators saying 申します or 申す before speaking.10
When telephones first appeared in Japan in the Meiji era, callers used not もしもし but もうす、もうす or おいおい.11 A commonly told account then traces the sequence おいおい → 申し上げます → 申す申す / 申し申し → もしもし, and credits 加藤木重教 with standardizing it after studying telephone practice in the United States.2 The basic 申し-doubling and the おいおい original greeting are the parts with reference-grade backing. The fuller staging and the 加藤木 anecdote rest on secondary sources, so treat them as the commonly told account rather than settled fact.910112
もしもし reads as too casual on a business call
もしもし is fine with friends and family but is treated as inappropriate when answering a business line. In that setting, the company name (はい、〜でございます) or お電話ありがとうございます is used instead.2 It is also telephone-only, never said in person.4
The "a fox cannot say もしもし" folk belief
A folk belief holds that saying もしもし, a doubled and full word, marks the speaker as human. In the belief, foxes and other 化け物 (supernatural creatures) are unable to pronounce a word twice or in full. The detail is attributed to folklorist Lafcadio Hearn's note that a fox "cannot pronounce a whole word, but a part only."2 This is a folklore claim resting on a secondary source. Take it as register history, not established fact.
席を外しております humbles your own colleague, not the caller
When a receiver says a colleague 席を外しております or 外出しております, the 謙譲語Ⅱ おる lowers the absent colleague. That is because the colleague is in the receiver's in-group (自分側) relative to the outside caller; the 敬語の指針 lists おる among the 謙譲語Ⅱ該当語例.1 Learners often expect respect language for a senior colleague and are surprised to hear humble language used about them instead.
失礼します means "I'm about to be rude, so goodbye"
Reading 失礼します literally as "I will commit a rudeness" makes the hang-up sense memorable: you are excusing yourself for ending the call.34
See also
- How to Choose the Right Keigo Level: A Practical Guide
- How to Write a Japanese Business Email: Keigo Guide
- Japanese Greetings: Time-of-Day, Workplace, and Seasonal Aisatsu (挨拶)
- Common Keigo Mistakes: 二重敬語 & Baito Keigo
- Solo Roleplay in Japanese: Restaurant, Interview, and Phone Call
- Uchi vs. Soto (内・外): The In-Group / Out-Group Axis