値段
ねだん
nedan
= price; cost
Nedan (値段) means price or cost — one of the most practical vocabulary words for shopping, dining, and everyday transactions in Japan. Knowing how to ask about and discuss nedan is essential for any visitor or learner navigating Japanese commerce.
Nedan (値段) refers to the price of goods or services. It’s the everyday, conversational word for price in Japanese — more casual than kakaku (価格, the more formal/technical word used in business and official pricing), and more specific than ryoukin (料金, fee — used for services like transport and utilities). Key phrases: nedan wa ikura desu ka? (値段はいくらですか？, ‘How much does it cost?’), nedan wo sageru (値段を下げる, ‘to lower the price’), nedan ga takai/yasui (値段が高い/安い, ‘the price is high/low’), and nedan wo kiku (値段を聞く, ‘to ask the price’). The verb nedaneru (値段をつける) means ‘to set a price.’ Negotiating price (nedan kōshō, 値段交渉) is less common in Japan than in many other countries — fixed pricing is the norm in retail.
The distinction between nedan and kakaku (価格) is mainly one of register. Use nedan in everyday shopping and conversation: kono nedan de ii desu ka? (この値段でいいですか？, ‘Is this price okay?’). Use kakaku in formal contexts like product catalogs, business negotiations, or reports. The compound nebiki (値引き, discount/price reduction) is worth learning alongside nedan — it literally means ‘pulling the price down’ and is used in both shopping and business contexts.
値段 uses 値 (chi/ne — price, value, worth) and 段 (dan — step, grade, level). Together: ‘the level of value’ or ‘the grade of worth’ — an abstract way of expressing that a price is the agreed valuation of a thing. The character 値 also appears in 値引き (nebiki, discount) and 値上げ (neage, price increase) — both valuable vocabulary for shopping conversations.
Everyday use
この鞄、値段のわりに品質がいいと思う。
Kono kaban, nedan no wari ni hinshitsu ga ii to omou.
I think this bag has good quality for the price.
Casual / Social Media
最近ガスの値段が上がりすぎてて家計がきつい。
Saikin gasu no nedan ga agari sugite te kakei ga kitsui.
Gas prices have been going up so much lately that our household budget is really tight.
Formal / Cultural context
日本の小売市場では、値段交渉は一般的ではない。
Nihon no kouriishijou de wa, nedan kōshō wa ippanteki de wa nai.
In Japan’s retail market, price negotiation is not common practice.
Japan’s fixed-price retail culture is distinctive globally. In most Japanese stores — from convenience stores (konbini) to department stores to restaurants — the displayed nedan is the price paid, full stop. There is no expectation or norm of bargaining. This contrasts sharply with retail cultures in many other countries and is sometimes surprising to visitors. The price on the tag is the price at the register. This norm makes nedan wo kiku (asking the price) straightforward — the answer will be precise and non-negotiable.
Two important adjacent vocabulary items for price in Japan are neage (値上げ, price increase) and nedori (値下がり/値下げ, price decrease). These appear constantly in news media — Japan experienced significant neage across food, energy, and daily necessities from 2022 onward due to global inflation and yen depreciation, making nedan a frequent news topic. The phrase bukka ga agatta (物価が上がった, ‘prices have risen’ — bukka means consumer prices generally) captures the macroeconomic level, while nedan stays at the level of individual goods.