Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu: Beyond ‘Nice to Meet You’

You introduce yourself to a new colleague. A friend agrees to look after your cat. Your team is about to begin a project. You end an email after asking someone for help.

In each situation, a Japanese speaker might say よろしくお願いします — yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Beginner materials often translate it as “nice to meet you.” That works during an introduction, but the phrase is not really a statement about meeting. It can appear when the people already know each other, when nobody has met at all, and even when the important event will happen next week.

The common thread is forward-looking: something now depends on the relationship between us, and I hope it goes well.

The short answer

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu is a flexible expression used when placing a relationship, request, task, or future interaction in another person’s hands.

Depending on the situation, natural English might be:

• “Nice to meet you.”
• “I look forward to working with you.”
• “Thanks in advance.”
• “Please take care of it.”
• “I appreciate your help.”
• or no explicit phrase at all.

It does not literally equal any one of these. The best translation comes from what the speakers are about to share.

What the words suggest

The phrase combines よろしく — yoroshiku with お願いします — onegaishimasu.

Yoroshiku is the adverbial form of よろしい — yoroshii, a polite or formal relative of いい — ii, meaning “good” or “all right.” In this expression, it carries the sense of something being handled in a good or favorable way.

Onegaishimasu comes from 願う — negau, “to wish” or “to request,” with polite and honorific elements. It is also used independently when making requests.

A literal reconstruction such as “I request that you treat this favorably” reveals part of the structure, but it is not normal English. More importantly, the object is often left unsaid. What is “this”? It may be the new relationship, tomorrow’s task, a favor, a person being entrusted to someone, or the message that came immediately before.

That productive vagueness is why the phrase travels so well between situations.

Four common situations

1. At the end of a self-introduction

A standard beginner exchange is:

はじめまして。アレックスです。どうぞよろしくお願いします。
Hajimemashite. Arekkusu desu. Dōzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Alex.”

Here, “nice to meet you” is a smooth translation for the whole exchange. But はじめまして — hajimemashite already marks a first meeting. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu looks beyond that moment toward the relationship that begins now.

This is why “I look forward to getting to know you” or “I look forward to working with you” may sometimes capture the feeling better, even if those sentences sound too specific for a simple introduction.

The Japan Foundation’s Marugoto starter materials present はじめまして … どうぞよろしくお願いします as the core pattern for a simple self-introduction.

2. When asking for a favor

Suppose a neighbor agrees to water your plants while you are away:

留守の間、植物をよろしくお願いします。
Rusu no aida, shokubutsu o yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
“Please take care of the plants while I’m away.”

The phrase does more than repeat the request. It entrusts the matter to the other person and acknowledges their cooperation.

After a detailed request in an email, よろしくお願いします can function like “thank you in advance.” Learners should be careful with that fixed translation, however. English “thanks in advance” can occasionally sound as though compliance is assumed. The Japanese phrase is common and often serves as a courteous closing rather than pressure.

3. At the beginning of shared work

When joining a team or starting a project, someone may say:

今日からよろしくお願いします。
Kyō kara yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
“I look forward to working with you from today.”

This does not specify exactly what each person will do. It recognizes that the participants will rely on one another from this point forward.

The same logic appears at the start of a lesson, rehearsal, match, or collaborative activity. In English, we may use a specific greeting, say “let’s have a good session,” or simply begin. Japanese often marks the cooperative frame explicitly.

4. At the end of an email or message

In professional correspondence, よろしくお願いいたします — yoroshiku onegai itashimasu frequently appears near the end.

ご確認のほど、よろしくお願いいたします。
Gokakunin no hodo, yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.
“I would appreciate your confirmation.”

The English should usually name the actual action: “Please review the attached file,” “I look forward to your reply,” or “Thank you for your consideration.” Automatically adding “best regards” can miss the request-oriented meaning, while “please treat me favorably” sounds unnatural.

Common forms and their tone

Form	Typical feeling
よろしく (yoroshiku)	Casual; suitable with friends, peers, or familiar teammates
よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegaishimasu)	Polite and broadly useful
どうぞよろしくお願いします (dōzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu)	Slightly fuller or warmer, common in introductions
よろしくお願いいたします (yoroshiku onegai itashimasu)	More formal and deferential, common in business writing

どうぞ — dōzo adds emphasis similar to “please” or “by all means.” いたします — itashimasu is the humble form of します — shimasu and raises the formality.

Longer is not automatically better. With close friends, the formal version can sound stiff. In a formal email, a bare よろしく may sound abrupt. Match the form to the relationship rather than treating politeness as a contest.

What does the reply mean?

At a first meeting, the other person may answer:

こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします。
Kochira koso, yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

こちらこそ — kochira koso means roughly “the same from me” or “it is I who should say that.” A natural English response is simply “Likewise” or “I look forward to working with you too.”

Repeating the phrase is not empty mimicry. It makes the hoped-for goodwill reciprocal: both people are accepting the relationship.

Situations where it does not fit

Because the phrase is broad, learners sometimes attach it to every polite interaction. A few boundaries help.

• It is not a general substitute for “thank you” after any completed favor. ありがとうございます — arigatō gozaimasu may be clearer.
• It is not normally used to greet a customer entering a shop.
• It does not replace the wording of an important request. State what you need before adding it.
• It is not limited to first meetings, but some future cooperation, care, or response should be relevant.

The phrase usually points forward. For recognizing effort that has already taken place, otsukaresama serves a different social role. At the table, itadakimasu uses the idea of receiving to mark the beginning of a meal.

The translation trap

If you memorize yoroshiku onegaishimasu only as “nice to meet you,” you may recognize it in introductions but miss it everywhere else. If you memorize it only as “please,” you may make it sound like a direct command. If you translate it as “thank you in advance” every time, you may create an English tone the Japanese did not have.

A more useful mental model is:

I am placing what comes next within our relationship and asking for your goodwill.

This is not a literal sentence to use in English. It is a way to notice what the phrase accomplishes.

A practical rule for learners

Use よろしくお願いします after introducing yourself when you expect a continuing relationship.

Use it after a clear request to acknowledge the help or response you are asking for.

Use it when a shared project, lesson, or activity is beginning.

Choose よろしく for comfortably casual relationships and よろしくお願いいたします when the situation genuinely calls for greater formality.

When translating, ask: What future action or relationship are the speakers entrusting to each other? Translate that—not the phrase in isolation.

Source note

The introduction pattern in this article is supported by the Japan Foundation’s Marugoto: Japanese Language and Culture, Starter A1 materials, which list はじめまして … どうぞよろしくお願いします for a simple self-introduction. See the Japan Foundation competence and phrase index and Irodori Starter Lesson 3.