Japanese For Kechi People!

Here are some phrases that will lower your social standing but raise your bank balance!

Kechi means cheap or stingy. Even if you were a big spender back home, here in Japan, you might have found yourself gomi (garbage) hunting, doing kiseru (cheating on your train fares), or waiting for an hour before the supermarket closes to get a discount when they mark down the prices on perishable items.

Here are some more phrases you can use to save money:

“Awa nashi de”

This is what you say if you don’t want them to put a head on your beer. Awa means foam, and nashi means nothing. This one can have mixed results, though. Sometimes, they will just ignore your request or bring you a beer without the head but only partially filled!

“Makete moraemasu ka”

This literally means “Can you lose for me?” and is used when you want to get a discount. Makeru means ‘to lose,’ and morau means to receive.
 Use this expression in discount, second-hand, and small shops – but not in department stores!

“Omori”

This wonderful word will get you a heaping helping of ramen, soba, or curry for just one to two hundred yen more than the regular price. “Miso no Omori” can mean you want a large bowl of Miso Ramen.

I used to know a perpetually hungry Australian who would say, “Omori wa deskimasu ka?” no matter where he went. He often got an extra big portion for the regular price. It’s incredible what a gaijin can get away with!

“Tenjihin o kattara, yasuku nari- masu ka?”

Tenjihin means a floor model. You are saying, “If I buy the floor model, can you make it cheaper?”

2割

Have you ever seen a sign like this in the supermarket? A lot of people don’t understand it at all or think that it is just a 2% discount, but it actually means 20% off. Multiply the number in front of the kanji by ten, and that’s the discounted price.

半額

An even better kanji to learn is 半額 (hangaku), which means half-price. You see this at supermarkets and specialty stores all the time.