In this lesson, we are going to learn some Japanese you can use if you get the chance to do some shopping in Japan. Aside from watching anime in Japanese, the other reason many anime fans want to learn Japanese is because they hope to go visit Japan someday. While you're there, of course you'll want to go buy lots of cool stuff, ne? When you enter a Japanese shop, the first thing you are likely to hear is the workers saying "Irashai" (ee-rah-shay), or maybe the more formal "Irashai mase". It was quite a shock to me the first time I entered a Japanese shop and everyone yelled "Irashai!", I didn't know what they were saying and thought maybe I was supposed to do something. But, it just means "Welcome", "Thanks for coming", and you're not expected to do anything (but you can give a polite nod or smile if you want). In Japan, the customer is all important. You might even hear "Irashai" at home, if you visit a Japanese restraunt that has Japanese people working in it. I often hear it when I stop in my favorite sushi restraunt. The most important word you'll need for your shopping is "Kudasai" (Ku-dah-sai), which basically means "Want", or "Give me please". If you see something you want, all you need to do is point to it or bring it to the counter and say "Kore o kudasai." to let them know you want to buy it. Remember, "Kore" means "This", referring to something near you, "Sore", means "That", referring to something near the person you are talking to, and "Are" means "That", referring to something that's not near you or the person you are talking to ("Are" is pronounced "ah-reh", not like the English word "Are"). So use the right one. (These were all in Lesson #5). The "o" is another particle, it means that the word before it is a "Direct Object", that means that something is being done to it. It's actually written with the hiragana "wo", in fact, it's the only thing that hiragana is used for, since there are no Japanese words with "wo". But the "w" is silent, so it just sounds like "o". If you're not sure if you want to buy it yet, and you want to look at it, you can use "Misete" (Mee-seh-tey) before "Kudasai". "Misete" means "Look", so you ask to look at something by saying "____ o misete kudasai." = "(I) want to look at ____."
Sometimes you might not see a price, especially if you're looking at something in a show case or at a convention. You can ask how much something costs with "Ikura des' ka?". "Ikura" (Ee-ku-rah) means "How much". You can be more specific by saying what it is you are asking about: "Jusu wa ikura des' ka?" "Juice how much is it?" or "How much does juice cost?". You can also use "Kore", "Sore", or "Are" and point to what it is if you don't know the word for it.
But what if you can't find that special item, like Pizza Cat's animation cels? Japanese shop keepers are glad to help you out, all you have to do is tell them what you are looking for by using the word "Sagashite" (Sah-gah-sh'tay), which means "looking for". For this, you'll need to know what the item you are looking for is called in Japanese, so if you don't know, you'd better look it up before you start your shopping. Once you know that, just fill in the blank "_____ o sagash'te imas'." You're using the particle "o" again, since the item is being looked for, that means something is happening to it, making it a Direct Object. "Imasu" (ee-mahs :silent "u") means that something is being done or is happening. (You can change it to "Imasen" to mean that something isn't being done) If they have it, they'll gladly show you where it is, if not, you'll probably get an answer with "arimasen" (don't have) or "Nai" (A negative, which we'll talk about in the next lesson).
Now, let's practice!
Irashai mase! = Welcome
Kyatto Ninden Teyande no seru o sagash'te imas' = I'm looking for Kyatto Ninden Teyande (Pizza Cats) cels.
Hai, doko des'! = Yes, over there! (You're lucky, Pizza Cats cels are hard to find!)
Are o misete kudasai. = I want to look at that.
Sore wa ikura des' ka? = How much is that?
go-sen en des'. = It is five thousand yen. (In Japanese, "Yen" is "En")
Kore o kudasai. = I'll take this.