Using sonkeigo and kenjougo as a tourist

Japanese
#1

I’m preparing for my trip to Japan and I was wondering - of course keigo is essential in the corporate setting. Also, hotel staff, konbini workers etc. address customers in sonkeigo.

But can you think of any area of the tourist experience when it would be good for me to be using (as in me actually speaking in) sonkeigo/kenjougo? Like would I use it when addressing an elderly ryokan host? A stranger on the train? A person I spilled my matcha latte on? (I hope that doesn’t happen!)
Also, am I correct in thinking that I should address hotel staff, department store staff etc. in teineigo?
I know I will have ‘gaijin privilege’ and also, I’m N4 (meaning - far from fluent), so it’s no big deal if I get it wrong. But I don’t see why I shouldn’t try to get it right ^^
Thanks in advance for the answers! I am, as is everyone, confused by keigo and would love your input!

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#3

It’s possible you’ll hear all combinations, but probably restricted to common set phrases used in shops, restaurants etc.

In terms of using them yourself, I would say unlikely to need to for sonkeigo/kenjougo.

There’s some situations where sonkeigo could be suitable, perhaps talking to someone you’ve met about their family, e.g. their parents, spouse etc. Or meeting an elderly person and asking about their life.

For kenjougo, I can’t think of a situation it would be useful for a tourist.

For both, a lot of the nuance is about related to a concept うち・そと, e.g. inside/outside. Inside can mean you, your family, your company, …, but it’s very situation dependent. In these cases, I think it’s really common (for good or for worse) that a tourist doesn’t fit in these categories.

For teineigo, yes. I would say consider teineigo the default for anyone who you’re not friends with. Starting with casual speech could easily be accidentally rude.

[This is a reasonably deep topic, so nothing I say is gospel, but I think is an OK rough picture]

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#4

Thank you for your detailed answer!

#5

I wouldn’t worry too much about this. It will be immediately apparent to people that you’re not an advanced speaker and probably that you’re a tourist so people won’t think anything of it if you use a simpler speech register. As you mention, understanding keigo to some extent is important for customer service interactions but there’s probably no scenario where you’ll unavoidably need to speak using keigo. Honestly, as a tourist trying to get by you could even drop the teineigo and most people would forgive it.

I’ve lived here for a couple of years and my advice in general about output would be to relax and don’t overthink it. If you can say something then great. If you get stuck then that’s also fine. If you’re around N4 and on holiday then there’s no need to stress about the finer details. Learn how to order food/drink and check some menus online before going so you can learn how to roughly read them. If you do practice any speaking beforehand then try and make sure your vowel sounds are clear and clean and not accidentally elongated (very very common issue which makes some words incomprehensible). Overall though I’d recommend relaxing and enjoying your trip!

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#6

Just using です and ます forms and using words like ください/おねがいします will put you ahead of 95% of tourists. They will usually appreciate the effort!

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