Moshi Moshi: Why Japanese Phones Aren't Answered Like Yours

Where it came from

In the 1890s, Japan started installing its first telephone lines. The standard way to start a conversation in person, もしもし, which means something like “I say, I say” or “excuse me,” was already in use. It is a polite softener. Phone operators adopted it as the formal greeting when connecting calls.

The word itself is a contracted reduplication of 申す (mōsu), the humble form of the verb “to say.” 申す + 申す becomes 申し + 申し, which contracts to もうしもうし, then simplifies to もしもし. Literally: “I say, I say.”

The ghost story

Here is where Japanese folklore gets fun. There is a long-running cultural belief that yōkai (spirits, ghosts, fox-monsters) cannot repeat themselves twice. A fox-spirit trying to trick a traveler into following it into the mountains can manage one “もし” but not two.

So when Japanese speakers adopted もしもし, saying it twice became a way to quietly confirm: I am human, not a fox. The teller is never quite sure if the recipient believed it, of course; that is the joke.

Nobody is seriously warding off foxes on their phone today. But the doubled form stuck, partly because it sounds good, partly because it feels less abrupt than saying “hello” at a stranger.

When not to use it

Moshi moshi is casual. In professional contexts, Japanese phone etiquette calls for a full self-introduction on pickup:

• Business incoming call:“はい、〇〇株式会社 の〇〇でございます” (Yes, this is [name] at [company name]).
• Business outgoing call:Open with “お世話に なっております” (thank you for your continued support), then identify yourself.

Using moshi moshi to your boss or a client is the equivalent of answering an English work call with “yo.”

Alternatives

Casual alternatives Japanese speakers use:

• おーい (oi): Yelling to someone at a distance. Not for the phone.
• はい (hai):Just “yes,” acknowledging the call.
• Saying your own name: Common in informal calls from saved contacts. They already know who it is.

The bottom line

Moshi moshi survives because it is useful, slightly silly, and carries a thousand years of ghost folklore underneath it. You will use it. You will also notice, after a month in Japan, that native speakers drop it in business settings. Language is always a little older and a little more layered than the phrasebook admits.

Common questions

Related reading

• Essential Japanese phrases

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