A convenient and polite way to greet someone in the morning. It can be used to anyone, regardless of their social rank. To simply say a casual "'morning!" to a friend or family member, you can abbreviate the phrase to "ohayo-!". The literal translation of "ohayo- gozaimasu" is "it is early" and the addition of "gozaimasu" at the end makes the greeting more polite. Just like "good morning", it can be used when you have just woken up or when you meet someone for the first time in the morning.

Technically, however, "ohayo- gozaimasu" has a more complex range of uses than "good morning"; as it can be used whenever you meet someone for the first time, regardless of the time of day. It is not uncommon for people arriving at work to greet each other with "ohayo- gozaimasu" even if they are about to start an evening or night shift. Also, in the world of show business, where entertainers and television staff may be working all hours of the night and day, "ohayo- gozaimasu" has apparently become the standard greeting when meeting someone, no matter what time of day or night it is. Remember that the literal translation is "it is early" and there is actually no reference to morning. For the most part, however, it is safer to just use "ohayo- gozaimasu" in the morning, although you should also keep in mind that there is no concrete time restriction as there is in English.

A convenient and polite way to greet someone from mid-morning right through the afternoon and into the evening. "Konnichi-wa" roughly translates as "today is... (good)" so it is semantically similar to "good day". Even if you are meeting someone for the first time that day, if it is mid-morning, lunchtime or afternoon you can safely use "konnichi-wa".

The catch is that, just as with "ohayo- gozaimasu", many people use "konnichi-wa" in the evening or at night as well. They simply forget or do not bother to make the switch to "konbanwa (good evening)". Using "konnichi-wa" in the evening has always been very common, even though it may already be dark outside. This means it is difficult to apply a set use time-frame to "konnichi-wa" as well.

A general yet polite way to greet someone in the evening or at night. "Konban-wa" roughly translates as "this evening/night is... (good)" or "good evening/night". However it does not carry the farewell nuance of the English "good night". If you are meeting someone for dinner, then even though using "konnichi-wa" is acceptable, if it is dusk or dark outside the most appropriate greeting would be "konban-wa".