Japanese Meeting Phrases: 50 Examples from Opening to Follow-Up

Table of contents

Who this guide is for

• Foreign professionals at Japanese companies (expat hires, mid-career hires) who can sense they’ll freeze in tomorrow’s meeting at one of the opening, discussion, decision, or closing moments.
• Consultants and account managers on client projects who can run in-house Japanese but can’t pivot the politeness register when even one external client joins the room.
• People whose work is half Zoom and Teams meetings and who Google “how do you say X in Japanese on a video call” once a week.
• Readers who finished our keigo guide and the Japanese business email guide and want a meeting-specific phrasebook that operationalizes those frameworks.

Each phase ends with a one-line handoff to the next phase, so you can skim only the moments you need for tomorrow’s call.

The three politeness levels (A/B/C) — a 60-second primer for first-time readers

This site organizes workplace Japanese into three politeness levels — A, B, and C. Every meeting phrase in this guide is written at all three levels, so you can pick the right one in the moment.

Three meeting-specific overlays sit on top of the basic framework.

1. The chair locks to B or C, regardless of who’s in the room. Even with an all-peer audience, the chair’s announcements use 〜itashimasu (〜いたします) and 〜sasete itadakimasu (〜させていただきます). The role overrides the register.
2. The minute-taker uses reported speech. Phrases like 〜to no koto desu (〜とのことです) and 〜to iu hōkō de susumeru koto ni narimashita (〜という方向で進めることになりました) frame the writer as a neutral reporter of consensus, not as a decision-maker.
3. Uchi-soto (内外) flips the room. The instant an external client joins an internal meeting, the whole room shifts to C — including how you refer to your own boss (uchi no buchō → heisha no Tanaka).

If the A/B/C framework is new to you, our keigo guide covers the foundations. The rest of this article applies that frame to the six phases of a meeting.

The 6-phase meeting at a glance

A Japanese business meeting decomposes cleanly into six time-ordered phases. Below is the at-a-glance map — each row links to a phrase example at the in-house B level.

Phase 1 — Pre-meeting (agenda email, late-notice, nemawashi)

Half a Japanese meeting is decided before anyone enters the room. The standard SERP guide only covers in-room speech — that’s a 0/10 coverage gap. Spend a few minutes on pre-meeting phrases and the meeting itself runs noticeably smoother.

Pre-meeting agenda email (Level B, works for in-house and client)

Subject: Agenda for tomorrow's meeting (5/19 14:00–) shared in advance

○○-bu Tanaka-sama,

Thank you for your continued support. I'm sharing the agenda for tomorrow's
meeting in advance.

【Date】Tuesday, May 19, 14:00–15:00 (60 minutes)
【Location】Zoom (link to follow separately)
【Agenda】
 1. Recap of progress since last meeting (10 min)
 2. Alignment on the spec change (30 min)
 3. Confirmation of follow-up items (10 min)
 4. Other (10 min)

If anything is unclear, please reach out before the meeting.
Thank you in advance.

The mechanics of email composition are covered in our Japanese business email guide.

Three late-arrival apologies

⚠ Common mistake: “Sumimasen, chotto okuremasu” alone is too weak, especially for clients. Always include the expected delay in minutes.

Nemawashi one-liners (for the pre-meeting 1:1 or hallway chat)

• B: Kaigi no mae ni, chotto go-sōdan shitai ken ga arimashite — “Before the meeting, there’s something I’d like to consult you about.”
• C: O-jikan no aru toki ni, ashita no gidai ni tsuite go-fun hodo o-jikan chōdai dekimasu deshō ka — “When you have a moment, could I grab 5 minutes of your time about tomorrow’s agenda?”

Nemawashi (根回し) — aligning with stakeholders before the formal session — is a standard part of Japanese meeting culture. The word go-sōdan (ご相談, “a consultation”) signals low stakes; the other person can engage without bracing for confrontation.

Phase 2 — Opening (the first word, the thanks, the self-naming)

The first thirty seconds of an opening set the politeness register for the whole call. Match the opening to the most senior person in the room — pitching too low is the most common rookie mistake.

A/B/C opening phrases

Chair-stem verbs — 〜itashimasu vs. 〜sasete itadakimasu

The verb stem you pick as chair changes the politeness layer noticeably.

• “○○kara hajimemasu” → Level B (in-house peers)
• “○○kara hajimesasete itadakimasu” → Level C (client, formal)

⚠ Common mistake: Bolting 〜sasete itadaku onto every verb sounds excessive. In-house standing meetings stay at 〜itashimasu. 〜sasete itadaku implies you’re asking permission to act — save it for clients and executives. The deeper breakdown is in our keigo mistakes guide.

Opening when one external client is in the room

The moment even one client joins an internal meeting, the opening register snaps up to C — for that one guest.

• Honjitsu wa ○○-sama ni go-sanka itadakimashite, makoto ni arigatō gozaimasu. Shanai no shinchoku kyōyū mo fukumemashite, kore yori uchiawase o hajimesasete itadakimasu — “Thank you, ○○-sama, for joining today. Including our internal progress share, we’ll now begin the meeting.”

Phase 3 — Discussion (the highest-frequency phase)

The discussion takes about 70% of meeting time. It decomposes into six sub-patterns: inviting input, agreeing, disagreeing, asking clarifying questions, interrupting, and managing time.

Four ways to invite input

Degrees of agreement (strong, light, conditional)

• Strong agreement: Ossharu tōri desu / Watashi mo mattaku onaji kangae desu (B) — “Exactly right / I think the same.”
• Light agreement: Sō desu ne / Sono go-ninshiki de mondai nai ka to omoimasu (B) — “Right / I think that read is fine.”
• Conditional agreement: Hōkōsei to shite wa dōi shimasu. Tada, ○○ no ten dake kakunin sasete kudasai (B/C) — “I agree in direction. Just let me check one thing about ○○.”

⚠ Common mistake: Ryōkai desu (“Got it”) is not appropriate for clients or for your boss. Switch to shōchi itashimashita or kashikomarimashita.

Disagreement, the 4-step soften (acknowledge → reframe → propose → check)

Hard disagreement freezes the room. Sandwich it in four steps and the same content lands without friction.

1. Acknowledge: Go-iken arigatō gozaimasu — “Thank you for sharing.”
2. Reframe: Tada, ○○ no kanten de mimasu to… — “However, from the angle of ○○…”
3. Propose: △△ no hōkō mo aru ka to omoimasu ga, ikaga deshō ka — “The direction of △△ might also work — how does that sound?”
4. Check: Nen no tame, ninshiki o soroesasete kudasai — “Just to align understanding.”

Worked example (declining a spec change on a client project):

Go-teian arigatō gozaimasu. Tada, genzai no sukejūru de mimasu to, kono henkō wa jikai no rirīsu ni fukumeru no ga muzukashii jōkyō desu. Jikai rirīsu de taiō suru hōkō mo aru ka to omoimasu ga, ikaga deshō ka. Nen no tame, yūsendo no ninshiki o soroesasete kudasai.

“Thank you for the proposal. Looking at the current schedule, though, fitting this change into the next release is tough. We might address it in the release after — does that work for you? Just to align on priority.”

Clarifying questions and confirmation

• Itten dake kakunin sasete kudasai (B) — “Let me confirm just one point.”
• Osore irimasu, ○○ ni tsuite oshiete itadakemasu deshō ka (C) — “Excuse me — could you tell me about ○○?”
• Watashi no ninshiki-chigai deshitara mōshiwake nai no desu ga, ○○ to iu rikai de atte orimasu deshō ka (C) — “Apologies if I’ve misread — am I right in understanding it as ○○?”
• Koko made de ninshiki o soroesasete itadakitai no desu ga, ○○ to iu koto de yoroshii deshō ka (C, as chair) — “I’d like to align understanding so far — is ○○ a fair summary?”

Interrupting — the 3-tier ladder (gentle, hand-raise, urgent)

Time management — a 3-line script

These three lines are the chair’s (or unofficial timekeeper’s) toolkit.

1. Yotei no jikan made nokori juppun hodo to narimashita node, ○○ no gidai ni susumasete kudasai — “We have about 10 minutes left, so let me move us to the ○○ topic.”
2. Kono ken wa jikan ga tarinaku natte kimashita node, tsuzuki wa betsuto o-jikan o mōkesasete itadaite mo yoroshii deshō ka — “We’re running out of time on this — could we set up a separate slot for the rest?”
3. O-jikan ga oshite orimasu. Honjitsu wa koko made to sasete itadaki, nokori wa gijiroku de kyōyū itashimasu — “We’re over time. Let’s stop here for today and I’ll share the remainder in the minutes.”

Phase 4 — Decision (consensus, action items, taking it back)

The moment a discussion converts to a decision is the most leveraged minute of the meeting. The phrases below force that conversion explicitly.

A/B/C decision-confirmation table

Action-item phrasing (who, by when, what)

Once a decision lands, verbalize the action immediately. Fix the order — who, by when, what — and items stop slipping through.

• ○○ no ken wa, Tanaka-san ga, raishū suiyō (5/26) made ni, shokō o kyōyū itadaku katachi de yoroshii deshō ka — “On ○○, will Tanaka-san share a first draft by next Wednesday (5/26)?”

As chair, close the decision phase with “Just to recap, let me list today’s actions” and read three to five action items aloud. That habit alone cuts minute-of-meeting omissions to near zero.

Taking it back — when mochikaeri is correct vs. lazy

For points you can’t decide in the room, mochikaeri — “let me take it back” — is the professional move. But always attach a who and a by when.

• ✅ Good: Kochira wa ichido mochikaerasete itadaki, ashita-jū ni shomen de go-kaitō itashimasu — “Let me take this back; I’ll respond in writing by end of day tomorrow.”
• ⚠ Bad: Mochikaerasete kudasai — “Let me take it back.” (No timeline, no owner; the client can’t plan around it.)

Phase 5 — Closing (recap, scheduling, thanks)

The final thirty seconds set the impression that lingers after the call drops.

A/B/C closing phrases

Scheduling the next meeting

• Jikai wa raishū kayō (5/26) jūyon-ji kara, onajiku Zoom de jisshi itashimasu (B) — “Next time is next Tuesday (5/26) at 14:00, also on Zoom.”
• Jikai no nittei wa betsuto chōsei no ue, ashita-jū ni go-renraku sasete itadakimasu (C, when undecided) — “We’ll arrange the next slot separately and contact you by end of day tomorrow.”

Phase 6 — Follow-up (minutes, follow-up email)

A follow-up that lands within an hour of the meeting roughly doubles the recall rate of every decision made.

Minutes — a 5-row template

【Meeting name】○○ uchiawase
【Date】2026/5/19 (Tue) 14:00–15:00
【Attendees】○○ (Ours), △△ (○○ Corp.)

【Decisions】
 - Spec A: included in the next release
 - Spec B: pushed to the release after

【Actions】
 - Tanaka: share first draft (by 5/26)
 - Yamada: update the spec doc (by 5/27)

【Next】5/26 (Tue) 14:00– on Zoom

Two follow-up email templates

In-house (Level B):

Subject: [Minutes] 5/19 ○○ meeting

Team,

Thank you for today. Sharing today's meeting minutes below. If anything
needs correcting, please flag it by end of day tomorrow.

(minutes body)

External / client (Level C):

Subject: Minutes from today's meeting

○○-bu Tanaka-sama,

Thank you for your continued support. We sincerely appreciate the time
you gave us today.

Please find the minutes below. If you spot any misalignments or have
questions, please let us know by end of day tomorrow.

(minutes body)

We look forward to continuing to work with you.

The composition mechanics live in our Japanese business email guide and the business email templates.

Online meetings (Zoom, Teams, Meet) — phrasebook

Online-meeting expressions are missing from every top-10 competitor guide — yet they fill more than half of modern meeting time. This is the chapter that lifts you out of “I can’t say that in Japanese” purgatory.

Connection, audio, and screen-share

Breakout rooms and chat

• Kore yori yottsu no bureikuauto-rūmu ni wakarete, nijuppun-kan disukasshon shite itadakimasu (chair, B) — “We’re splitting into 4 breakout rooms for a 20-minute discussion.”
• Go-shitsumon ya komento wa, chatto-ran ni o-yose kudasai (chair, B) — “Drop questions or comments in the chat.”
• Sakihodo chatto de go-shitsumon itadakimashita ken, kōtō de o-kotae shimasu (B) — “I’ll answer the question you posted in the chat verbally.”

Announcing recording

If you start a recording on an online meeting, announce it verbally — silent recording is a serious etiquette breach.

• B: Rokuga o kaishi itashimasu — “Starting the recording.”
• C: Gijiroku no hojo to shite, kore yori rokuga sasete itadakimasu. Go-ryōshō itadakemasu deshō ka — “As an aid for the minutes, we’ll start recording. Is that all right?”

Leaving briefly vs. leaving early

Role-specific phrasebook (chair, participant, minute-taker)

Same moment, different role — and the verb shape flips. SERP competitors write everything from a participant’s seat. The chair declares; the participant requests; the minute-taker reports.

The chair leans on 〜itashimasu and 〜sasete itadakimasu. The participant leans on 〜shite mo yoroshii deshō ka and 〜shite itadakemasu ka. The minute-taker leans on noun-final reporting and 〜to no koto.

Five meeting-specific mistakes (before / after)

For a fuller catalogue of keigo mistakes that show up across all workplace settings, see our 8 keigo mistakes guide. The five below are the ones that detonate specifically inside meetings.

Related guides and the Essential 30 PDF

Meeting phrases stop here. The surrounding territory is covered in the guides below.

• Keigo guide — the full A/B/C framework
• 8 keigo mistakes non-natives make — the priority order for fatal keigo errors
• Japanese business self-introduction templates — the opening-phase self-intro, in depth
• How to write a Japanese business email — the 8-step composition guide for pre- and post-meeting email
• Japanese business email templates — copy-paste email bodies for 8 scenarios
• 10 polite Japanese phrases for the office — the week-one workplace defaults
• Japanese business phrases PDF — 30 scenarios × A/B/C, print-friendly

Essential 30 PDF: on top of the phrases in this guide, the Essential 30 PDF is a pocket-sized phrasebook of the 30 most frequent workplace scenarios — refined for your first month at a Japanese company. Pair it with this guide and the “what do I say right now” gap collapses to seconds.

→ Get the Essential 30 PDF

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