Talking with Customs Officials by Molly Hakes
Once you have collected your baggage, proceed to the customs checkout counter with your customs card and passport ready. Customs officials will want to know whether you have any food, seeds, plants, or other living things that may harm the local environment. Gifts of packaged goods such as chocolates are usually not a problem, but there are limits on some items.
You may be asked to open your bag for inspection.
Customs Vocabulary
naka |
inside |
haitte imasu, hairimasu |
be in (inside) |
o-miyage |
gifts, souvenirs |
mite, mimasu |
see, look |
doozo |
please, go ahead |
Here's the kind of conversation you may have with the customs official:
Customs Official: |
O-nimotsu no naka ni wa, nani ga haitteimasu ka. |
|
What do you have in your bags? |
Visitor: |
O-miyage ya fuku, kamera nado ga haitte imasu. |
|
There are gifts, clothing, a camera, etc., inside. |
Customs Official: |
Naka o mite mo ii desu ka. |
|
Do you mind if I look inside? |
Visitor: |
Doozo. |
|
Please, go ahead. |
Customs officials may look menacing, but once you are through this last checkpoint your trip really starts!
The Japanese Version of “-ing”
Two new verbs with different endings are included in the customs sample dialogue: haitte-imasu and mite. The first verb modification is similar to English verbs with the suffix “-ing” (e.g., “running” and “speaking”). The regular form of the verb is hairu (“enter,” “contain,” “include”). To make it into its present perfect form, the -ru ending must be dropped. After that, first a -te and then an -imasu are added to create a verb conjugation that indicates the action is going on right now. In romanized spellings, the main verb is often separated from -imasu by a hyphen. In less formal situations, -imasu may be replaced with -iru.
Verbs whose plain forms end in bu, mu, or nu need -nde instead of -te followed by -imasu, or -iru. Following this rule, yobu (“to call”) becomes yonde-iru (“calling”) and nomu (“to drink”) becomes nonde-iru (“drinking”).
Nani o tabete imasu ka.
What are you eating?
Nani o kiite-iru ka.
What are you asking?
Bideo o mite imasu.
I'm watching a video.
Nani o nonde-iru ka.
What are you drinking?
Dare o yonde imasu ka.
Who are you calling?
In the previous examples, notice that the -te of mite becomes -de in verbs such as nonde and yonde. -te and -de are related and so can be used interchangeably in order to make the conjugation roll off the tongue more easily.
Do You Mind?
Requesting permission to smoke, eat, drink, or take a look is relatively easy as far as verb conjugations go. In the phrase mite mo ii desu ka, the verb miru (“to see”) is changed by dropping the plain -ru ending and simply adding -te. This modified verb followed by the phrase mo ii desu ka, is a polite way to ask permission to do anything:
Tabete mo ii desu ka.
May I eat?
Koko de matte mo ii desu ka.
Is it alright if I wait here?
If you would like to have something, you have to say:
Bananas o moratte mo ii desu ka.
A Catchall Word
Doozo is a word you will hear thousands of times from the beginning to the end of your visit to Japan. It is used in countless situations and is a great fallback word when you do not know what else to say. Doozo usually accompanies an offer to sit down, eat, drink, receive, or enter:
Moo ikko, doozo.
Please have another.
It can also be used to mean “sure, of course,” therefore making it an easy reply to requests for permission to do something:
Tabete mo ii desu ka. Doozo.
May I eat? Of course, go ahead.
