Keigo: Japanese Honorific Speech

What keigo is

Keigo is not just 'polite Japanese.' It's a structural system: nouns, verbs, and even some pronouns shift form based on who is speaking, who is being spoken about, and the social distance between them. The same English sentence — 'I am here' — can come out as いる, います, おります, depending on register.

There are three primary keigo registers. Teineigo (-desu/-masu) is the polite default safe in almost every situation. Sonkeigo elevates the listener or subject ('they came' = いらっしゃった). Kenjōgo lowers the speaker ('I came' = まいりました). Most adult learners need passive recognition of all three; production starts with teineigo and grows from there.

When to use which register

Casual (タメ口) — close friends and family. Drop -desu/-masu, use plain forms.

Teineigo — strangers, classmates, anyone you're meeting for the first time, customer service. The safe default.

Sonkeigo — speaking about someone above you (boss, elder, customer) or addressing them directly with elevated language.

Kenjōgo — speaking about yourself or your in-group when the listener is above you (business calls, formal interviews, traditional service).

How to learn it

Start with teineigo. It is the form Japanese textbooks teach in the first three months and the form you'll use in 80% of real interactions.

Add sonkeigo and kenjōgo around month 9-12, when you have enough vocabulary that the keigo verb substitutions don't overwhelm you. Service-industry phrasebooks (the ones aimed at Japanese workers) are surprisingly good at teaching the patterns in context.

Watch service interactions in Japanese — convenience stores, hotels, train stations. The scripts are tightly keigo-loaded and you'll hear the same constructions hundreds of times.