Thirteen day-time cards for the counters you will actually meet
Not a phrasebook. Each card is one counter, one machine or one doorway: the line to hold up in Japanese large enough to read across a counter, the replies you'll get back, and the one thing not to do.
Enter an email and the download link is on the next page. No account, no newsletter, nothing to pay.
What you download is yours to keep, with no expiry, and corrected versions of those cards appear at the same download link, free. No newsletter unless you ask for it.
Every Japanese line on this site is a draft written from standard, high-frequency phrasing. None of it has been through a native-speaker register check yet, which is why every card is free. What has and has not been checked is written out in full.
One card
This is what a card looks like
What is in it
The 13 cards in the download
| No. | Category | The line you hold up | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Shops | 袋はいりません | I don't need a bag. |
| 02 | Food | お会計をお願いします | The check, please. |
| 03 | Transport | ここまでお願いします | Please take me here. |
| 04 | Transport | チャージをお願いします | Please top up my card. |
| 05 | Food | 店内でお願いします | For here, please. |
| 06 | Food | おまかせでお願いします | Chef's choice, please. |
| 07 | Food | 食券はどこで買いますか？ | Where do I buy the meal ticket? |
| 09 | Shops | 免税でお願いします | Tax-free, please. |
| 11 | Shops | 風邪薬はありますか？ | Do you have cold medicine? |
| 12 | Food | これはお通しですか？ | Is this the otoshi — the seating dish? |
| 15 | Stay | タトゥーがあります | I have a tattoo. |
| 21 | Help | わかりません | I don't understand. |
| 22 | Help | アレルギーがあります | I have an allergy. |
The deal
Free, and what is not in it
Enter an email above and the download link is on the next page. What you download is yours to keep, with no expiry, and corrected versions of those cards appear at the same download link, free.
Core was planned at 22 cards; 13 are drawn. The other 9 — standing soba, sizes, platforms and changing lines, hotel check-in, luggage — are not, and this page gives them no date. If they are drawn, they appear at your download link and in the changelog.
Every Japanese line on this site is a draft written from standard, high-frequency phrasing. None of it has been through a native-speaker register check yet, which is why every card is free. What has and has not been checked is written out in full.
If a card turns out to be wrong we would rather know than look right — tell us and the correction reaches every download link, free.
Compare
Against the other packs
The 13 day-time situation cards, for your phone.
- 13 cards at 1080 × 1620 for the camera roll: food, shops, transport, stay and help
- Phone images only — there is no print sheet for these yet
- Works offline — they are images, not an app
- Corrections stay free and appear at your download link
Ten cards for the smallest rooms in Japan: yatai and yokocho.
- 10 cards for yatai stalls and yokocho bars: getting in, the cover charge, ordering, paying, leaving
- Decoder cards for yakitori, oden, Hakata ramen and the drinks menu
- One printable A4 sheet, grayscale, cut marks
- Free with an email — the link is on the next page
Every card on the site, one email, one download.
- All 23 cards at full resolution — the 13 day cards plus the 10 night cards
- The night-card print sheet (A4, grayscale) and a one-file ZIP
- Works offline — images, not an app
- Free, and what you download is yours to keep
Questions
Before you download
What format are the cards?
PNG images at 1080 × 1620, a 2:3 ratio that fills a phone screen, delivered as one ZIP of 13 files. No app, no account, no login.
Do they work without signal?
Yes — that is the whole point. They are images in your camera roll. They work on the plane, in a subway tunnel, and on a phone in airplane mode with a dead eSIM.
Why is it free? What's the catch?
The Japanese on these cards has not had a native-speaker register check, so nothing here is for sale, and there is no paid date. What you download is yours to keep, with no expiry, and corrected versions of those cards appear at the same download link, free. The only email you get is your download link — no newsletter unless you ask for it.
Is there a print version?
Not for the day cards yet. The ten night cards have an A4 print sheet. Any card prints from your photos app at roughly passport size if you scale it to 9 cm wide.
Should I get Core or all 23?
If you will eat at a yatai or a tiny bar at night, take all 23 — it is Core plus the ten night cards in one download. Core alone is for daytime: konbini, ramen machine, taxi, IC card, tax-free, pharmacy and onsen.
What if a card turns out to be wrong?
Tell us and the fix lands at your download link, free. Corrections are logged publicly in the changelog.