Quick Reference

Meaning & Definition

Every morning in Japanese households, the same ritual plays out: one person heads for the door and calls out ittekimasu, and whoever stays behind answers with itterasshai. This reply — spoken by the one left at home — carries a quiet wish that the departing person will go safely and return.

Itterasshai is the response given to someone who says ittekimasu (“I’m going and will be back”) as they leave the house. Literally it combines itte (the te-form of 行く, “to go”) with irasshai, the honorific imperative of いらっしゃる, a respectful verb meaning “to go,” “to come,” or “to be.” Together the phrase means roughly “please go (and come back),” with the return already assumed. Because English has no single phrase that captures this send-off — “see you later” is close but drops the safety wish — the word stands out as distinctly Japanese to learners. Register is neutral-to-polite in everyday speech; in a retail or service setting the phrase lengthens to itterasshai-mase (行ってらっしゃいませ), adding the formal suffix mase to show deference to the customer.

How to Use It

The most common mistake is confusing who says what. Remember: the person leaving says ittekimasu; the person staying replies itterasshai. A second trap is pronunciation — the double t in itte requires a brief stop before the t sound, similar to the pause in the English phrase “hot towel.” Skipping this makes the word sound like iterasshai, which Japanese ears will still understand but will mark as foreign. In casual speech among friends or family the phrase is often shortened to a breezy itterasshai~ with a rising intonation, while the formal itterasshai-mase is standard for service staff.

Kanji Breakdown

The kanji 行 is traced to an ancient pictograph of a crossroads — two intersecting paths — representing movement along a road. In itterasshai it appears only in the first element 行って (itte); the remainder, らっしゃい, is written in hiragana because いらっしゃる is an auxiliary honorific verb with no single kanji of its own. Learners sometimes write the whole phrase in hiragana (いってらっしゃい), which is equally correct in casual contexts.

Example Sentences

Cultural Context

The exchange of ittekimasu and itterasshai is one of the most deeply embedded rituals in Japanese domestic life. Linguists and sociologists note that these greetings function as more than politeness — they are a mutual acknowledgment that the person leaving is expected to return, turning an ordinary departure into a small, spoken contract of safety. In a culture where group belonging and the security of home (家, ie) carry strong social weight, the ritual confirms the tie between the person going out and the household waiting for them.

Because the phrase is so tightly bound to the home-departure context, hearing itterasshai from a coworker or shopkeeper carries a different warmth than a generic farewell. Department store and convenience store staff who use itterasshai-mase as customers leave are deliberately evoking the comfort of that domestic send-off, positioning the store as a welcoming space the customer is always free to return to. For Japanese language learners, mastering this pair — knowing when each half is said and by whom — is often described as a milestone moment in feeling genuinely immersed in everyday Japanese life.

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