How to say Come Here in Japanese

Saying “come here” in Japanese is surprisingly not as complex as some of the other expressions we’ve looked at. The components are mostly the same for the majority of the ways that you say Come Here in Japanese.

When we say Come Here in any language, it’s often a request on our part. However, depending on the context, there may also be situations where you want to almost order someone to come to you. These scenarios could be when a parent tells their child to “get here this instant,” or something similar for instance.

Japanese is a polite language with different levels of honorifics that change the style of speech, sometimes quite drastically. Therefore, there are considerable more ways to say “come here” in Japanese, than in English.

As such, in this ultimate guide, I also list and explain ways you can say Come Here in Japanese in a variety of contexts and situations. Each expression entry is accompanied by a native pronunciation audio recording, detailed explanations and examples. Any questions at all, feel free to leave a comment below!

Now, it’s time to save you the hassle of having to awkwardly physically grab your Japanese friends by the shoulder when you want to show them something awesome. Let’s take a look at how we can ask them to come to you via speech! Incredible stuff.

Table of Contents

Come Here in Japanese

Come here.
ここに来て。
koko ni kite.

During any situation where you want to ask your friend to come to you for whatever reason, you can use ここに来て (koko ni kite). Perhaps you want to call them over to you so that you can show them something, or maybe you need some help.

You can use ここに来て (koko ni kite) for any kind of scenario you find yourself in. Let’s use the scenario where you’re out shopping with a friend, and you see something you want to show them. You can say:

みて！ここに来て！
mite! koko ni kite!
Look at this! Come here!

You can use ここに来て (koko ni kite) by itself here. The みて (mite) is completely optional. This is a great expression that you can use to get someone’s attention quickly. Say you saw an incoming car, you could call them away from danger.

危ないよ！ここに来て！
abunaiyo! koko ni kite!
Be careful! Come here!

Understanding the Components

The first part of ここに来て (koko ni kite) is ここ (koko). ここ (koko) literally means “here” in Japanese. It is pretty much always written in hiragana, and I’m sure you’ll hear it being used a lot!

The next part is に (ni), which is a Japanese grammar particle that is typically used to indicate a specific point in time, or place. In this case, the に (ni) works a little like how “to” does in English. Think of it like the “to” in the sentence “come to here”.

Lastly, the main verb of the sentence, is 来て(kite). 来て(kite) is the te-form of the verb 来る (kuru) which means “to come”. The Japanese te-form has many uses, but in this case, the te-form turns the verb into a request.

With that said, combining all three components we have ここに来て (koko ni kite), an expression you can use to request someone to come to you.

The expression ここに来て (koko ni kite) is a casual one, so it’s best used between friends and those you are close with. You wouldn’t want to say ここに来て (koko ni kite) to ask your manager, or a stranger to come to you for instance.

I Want You to Come Here

I want you to come here.
ここに来てほしい。
koko ni kite hoshii.

There might be times when you want to express your want for someone to come to your location. When we express to someone that we want them to come to us in English, there is still an essence of “come here” felt when we do.

The same connotations apply when you say “I want you to come here” in Japanese. To say “I want you to come here” in Japanese you can use ここに来てほしい (koko ni kite hoshii). Use this when want to call someone over to show them something, or when you miss them.

For example, imagine you haven’t seen your partner for a while, you express how much you’re looking forward to seeing them:

早くここに来てほしい！すごく会いたい！
hayaku koko ni kite ! sugoku aitai!
I want you to hurry and come here! I can’t wait to see you!

You may have noticed that there are no pronouns in the Japanese version. There is no mention of “you” or “I”. This is because pronouns are often omitted in Japanese conversation where the context is understood by both parties.

As we discussed in the first entry, ここに来て (koko ni kite) means “come here” in Japanese. Simply attaching ほしい (hoshii) to ここに来て (koko ni kite) transforms the meaning to “I want you to come here” in Japanese.

Actually, by changing any Japanese verb into the te-form and attaching ほしい (hoshii), you can say that you want someone to do anything in Japanese.

For instance, the verb for “go” in Japanese is 行く (iku). In te-form it is 行って (itte). Simply saying 行って (itte), is a way of requesting or asking someone to “go” in Japanese.

Attach ほしい (hoshii), and you have 行ってほしい (ittehoshii), meaning “I want you to go” in Japanese.

“I Want” vs “I Want You To” – てほしい (tehoshii) vs たい (tai) in Japanese

Sometimes it’s easy to get confused between two Japanese grammar points たい (tai) and てほしい (te hoshii).

たい (tai) is used when you want to say that you want to do something in Japanese.
てほしい (te hoshii) is used when you want to say that you want someone to do something.

As an example:

パーティーに来てほしい。
pa-tei- ni kite hoshii。
I want you to come to the party.

パーティーに行きたい。
pa-tei- ni ikitai。
I want to go to the party.

てほしい (te hoshii) is a Japanese N4 grammar point, so for those of you who would like to study it more in-depth, I recommend this site.

Please Come Here in Japanese

Please come here.
ここに来てください。
koko ni kite kudasai.

There may be situations where you want to kindly or politely ask someone to come to you in Japanese. During these scenarios, such as when you’re speaking with a manager or a stranger, for instance, you can use ここに来てください (koko ni kite kudasai).

We’ve already established that ここに来て (koko ni kite) means “come here” in Japanese. Simply by attaching ください (kudasai), we can say “come here please” in Japanese! As ください (kudasai) is also the formal way to say “please” in Japanese, we don’t have to worry about formalities here.

It’s important to note though, that attaching ください (kudasai) to the expression turns it into more of a demand, rather than a request. It’s not necessarily considered to be a rude demand however, it depends on how you say it. You also still are asking someone to come to you, it’s just the demand element is stronger in ここに来てください (koko ni kite kudasai).

You could imagine a manager calling you over to see them.

すみません [name]、ここに来てください。
sumimasen [name], koko ni kitekudasai。
Excuse me [name], come here, please.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m called over like that, I start panicking and start thinking about what I could have done wrong.

It’s not always a bad sign though, ここに来てください (koko ni kite kudasai) is often used when the speaker is serious about something.

Come!

Come (here).
来て。
kite.

As we mentioned before, the Japanese language loves to omit all kinds of things – pronouns, topic markers, and even grammar particles!

During conversations where it is already understood between both parties what is being referred to, and to whom, you can omit parts of the sentence.

ここに来て (koko ni kite) means “come here” in Japanese. When the context is understood by both the speaker and listener, 来て (kite) also means “come here” in Japanese.

So if you were to say 来て (kite) to someone, they will know exactly that you’re asking them to come to you, without you even being specific! It’s completely natural to say this too.

Heck, you could even chain them together! Say a friend who you haven’t seen for a while is coming to visit. You could express your overwhelming excitement:

来て来て来て!
kite kite kite!
Come (here), come (here), come (here)!

We know that 来て (kite) is the te-form of the verb 来る (kuru), to come in Japanese. And, one of the functions of the te-form is to turn verbs into a request. That’s why when you say 来て (kite), you are requesting the person to come to you.

It’s also worth noting that this is a very casual way to say come here in Japanese. Therefore, outside of friends and family, you’re best off using ここに来てください (koko ni kite kudasai).

Could You Come Here For Me? in Japanese

Could you come here for me?
ここに来てくれる？
koko ni kite kureru?

One of the ultimate ways to ask someone to do something for you (casually) in Japanese, is to use くれる (kureru). We can understand くれる (kureru) as “for me” in English, but there’s a little more to it than that. くれる (kureru) also has a hint of “especially for me” kind of connotation attached to it.

This means that when we say ここに来てくれる？ (koko ni kite kureru) in Japanese, we’re requesting if someone could do something, (almost), especially for us.

With ここに来てくれる？ (koko ni kite kureru) you can ask someone if they could kindly do you a favour by coming to you in Japanese.

Perhaps your friend is struggling with a task, and they might ask you:

ちょっとここに来てくれる？
chotto koko ni kite kureru?
Could you come here (for me) for a moment?

Or perhaps a nervous friend has asked you if you could accompany them to a job interview on the weekend. You said that you’re not sure if you can make it, but on the day you surprise them by turning up at their house so you can go together. They might say this to you:

来てくれてありがとう！
kite kurete arigatou!
Thanks so much for coming!

Don’t Come Here! in Japanese

Don’t Come Here.
ここに来ないで。
koko ni konai de.

There may also be occasions where you want to ask, or tell someone to not come to you in Japanese. It could be for a multitude of reasons. Perhaps you’re getting changed and don’t want them to come into the room for a second, maybe they smell really bad, or perhaps you just don’t want them to come to you.

Say you’re in the middle of getting changed, and silly you, you’ve forgotten to lock the door! Someone is about to open the door and expose you so you quickly shout:

待って！ここに来ないで！
matte! koko ni konaide!
Wait! Don’t come in here!

A very desperate situation indeed.

Following the trend of omitting words and particles in Japanese, you can also just say 来ないで (konaide). When you say 来ないで (konaide) straight up, it is the same as saying ここに来ないで (koko ni konaide), or “don’t come here” to someone. You could also tell them to go away if you really don’t want to see them.

You can also tell someone to stop following you with this expression.

付いて来ないで！
tsuite konaide!
Stop following me!

Simply attach 付いて (tsuite), which ironically means “to attach” in Japanese, before 来ないで (konaide). Quite literally, 付いて来ないで (tsuite konaide) means “don’t attach yourself to me and don’t come with me” in Japanese. So you can see how this translates to “stop following me”.

Found yourself in a non-casual situation, and need to be polite? Attach ください (kudasai) to the expression to formally say “Please don’t come here” in Japanese.

来ないでください！
konaide kudasai!
Please don’t come!

Demand Someone to Come Here

When we’re wanting to be more demanding with our words in English, we typically change the tone of our voice. In Japanese though, instead of changing the tone of voice, they change the form of the verb to express a command.

Come Here This Instant

Come here this instant.
ここに来なさい。
koko ni kinasai.

Firstly, ここに来なさい (koko ni kinasai) is typically used when speaking with children. It’s very similar to how we use a parental tone in English.

You may hear ここに来なさい (koko ni kinasai) used by those who possess a higher natural authority in a situation, such as teachers or parents who are speaking to their students or children respectively.

With your friends, you would say 来て (kite) at any time to express that you want them to come to you. However, when speaking with children or students, using ここに来なさい (koko ni kinasai) tells them that they have to listen to you, and get over to where you are.

Say you spot a misbehaving child. You might tell them:

リサ、ここに来なさい！
risa, koko ni kinasai!
Lisa, come here this instant!

Come Here Now

Come Here Now.
来い。
koi.

When you’re frustrated, asking someone to kindly come to you can sometimes be difficult. To order someone to get their butt over to you can use 来い (koi).

来い (koi) is the imperative form of the verb 来る (kuru), which means “to come”. Because the word 来い (koi) is an imperative verb, it’s considered to be quite an aggressive word. When a verb is in the imperative form, it transforms into an outright order, command or demand, rather than a request.

The verb 来い (koi) is the strongest word you can use in Japanese to tell someone forcefully to come to you. Therefore, you probably don’t want to go overboard with this one.

It’s worth noting that 来い (koi) sounds the same as 恋 (koi) which means “to love.” The hiragana is also the same, so it’s just something to keep in mind. You don’t want to accidentally be shouting “love!” when you’re angry and want someone to get over to you now.

I Hope You Can Come in Japanese

I hope you can come.
来ると嬉しい。
kuru to ureshii.

Expressing the word “hope” is quite challenging in Japanese. It’s a shame because we use it all the time in English. Wishing for someone to have a nice day, or wishing good luck to someone in Japanese, can also be a challenge.

Luckily though, there are ways we can convey something that’s almost the same as “hope”. The best and most natural way to say “I hope you can come” in Japanese is 来ると嬉しい (kuru to ureshii). Let’s say you’ve invited someone to your wedding, and you’re really hoping that they can come. You might say:

来るとすごく嬉しい！
kuru to sugoku ureshii!
I really hope you can come!

The addition of すごく (sugoku), meaning “very” in casual Japanese, is completely optional here.

I Will Be Happy If You Can Come in Japanese

Although saying when you want to express “I hope you can come” is completely natural… There is a second way we can interpret 来ると嬉しい (kuru to ureshii).

The first part of the expression 来る (kuru) is the Japanese verb for “to come”. The third part is 嬉しい (ureshii), which means “happy” in Japanese.

The second part is と (to). This と (to) is one of the four ways you can say “if” in Japanese. と (to) is the conditional way of saying “if”. This means that と (to) describes the definite result of a condition. In this case, the condition is 来る (kuru), meaning “to come”. Then the result of the condition being completed is “happy”.

Put simply, 来ると嬉しい can be expressed as: “If you can come, I will definitely be happy”.

Pronouns are also frequently omitted in Japanese, as such they are also absent here. It is much more natural to omit them, but here is the full expression with pronouns for your reference.

あなたが来ると私は嬉しい！
anata ga kuru to watashi ha ureshii!
If you can come, I will definitely be happy.

Welcome, Come On In! in Japanese

Welcome, come on in.
いらしゃいませ。
irashaimase.

As soon as you enter Japan, there is no doubt that いらしゃいませ (irashaimase) will be one of the first things you hear. At the very least, it will definitely be the one you remember especially if you’re coming as a tourist.

This is because, whenever you enter a store in Japan you will always be greeted by the staff with いらしゃいませ. (irashaimase). It is used as a greeting from staff to customers, and can be understood as “welcome, come on in”.

いらしゃいませ (irashaimse) originates from いらっしゃる(irassharu), the honorific word for “go,” or “come” in Japanese. It was originally used by marketplace merchants who were trying to lure customers into their store by greeting them with a polite, yet formal いらしゃいませ (irashaimase), “come in, come in.”

Nowadays it’s used as a standard greeting for stores all over Japan. You can also expect to be a greeted with a いらしゃいませ (irashaimase) even after you’ve been in a store for a few minutes from other members of staff who have just seen you.

You hear this phrase everywhere, and it has a unique quirk to it, depending on who’s saying it. Have a look at Dogen’s short but very well-composed imitation of the phrase.

You’ll notice that it’s often shorted to simply ませ (mase), or even just せ (se) by staff members who have to say it frequently.

Come On In (Casual Japanese)

Come on in.
入っていいよ。
haitteiiyo.

You will find it to be much more frequent in japan to wait outside someone’s door to be invited in before entering. You might want to invite a friend to your house one day:

私の家に来ない？
watashi no ie ni konai?
Fancy coming over?

To which, your friend may wait outside the door before being invited in. During any situation when you want to tell someone (casually) that it’s okay for them to enter you can use 入っていいよ (haitte ii yo). A typical conversation at the door may go like this:

You notice them waiting and say:

あ、入っていいよ。
a, haiite ii yo.
Ah, feel free to come on in.

It’s polite to pardon yourself for the intrusion before entering someone else’s home. So they’ll reply with:

お邪魔します。
o jama shimasu.
Excuse me for disturbing you.

When you say 入っていい (haitte ii), you’re telling someone that it’s okay to enter in Japanese.

For those of you interested in why 入っていい (haitte ii) translates “come on in” in Japanese, I have explained it below.

入って (haitte) is the te-form of the verb 入る (hairu), meaning, “to enter”.
Verbs typically come at the end of the sentence. A function of the te-form is to connect a verb to the second half of a sentence. (Essentially it’s a way to say “and” in Japanese).
いい (ii) in Japanese means “good”.
Pronouns (You/I) are omitted.

So the literal translation of 入っていい (haitte ii) can be interpreted as “enter and it’s good,” or “it’s good (for you) to enter”.

Please Come On In (Formal Japanese)

Please come on in.
どうぞお入りください。
douzo ohairikudasai.

For relationships outside of friends and family, you’re going to need to speak formal Japanese. We have just covered the casual way to say “please come on in” above. But of course, you don’t want to be saying that in the workplace for instance.

どうぞお入りください (douzo ohairikudasai) is Keigo (very formal) for “please come on in” in Japanese. As previously discussed, in Japan particularly, people will wait to be invited into a room despite being already invited to a room.

Say you’re going to a job interview for example. You head to reception and let them know you have arrived. You are directed to go to a room on the second floor, so you make your way there. In Japan, after you see the room where the interview is due to take place, (even if the door is open) you are expected to knock, specifically three times and wait to be invited in.

Then you might hear the phrase:

はい。どうぞお入りください.
hai. douzo ohairikudasai。
Ah yes, please come on in.

You would then enter the room and immediately say:

お邪魔します.
o jama shimasu。
Excuse me for disturbing you.

Then close the door without showing your back to the interviewers, followed by a bow. You also have to wait to be invited to sit down in your seat! So make sure you wait for that prompt too!

All in all, you can use どうぞお入りください (douzo ohairikudasai) yourself to invite someone into your room in a respectful manner.

This Way Please

This way, please.
こちらへどうそ。
kochira e douzo.

During times when you want to direct someone towards a specific location, you can tell them こちらへどうそ (kochira e douzo), meaning “this way, please” in Japanese.

You might hear this expression being used in a hotel for instance. Say you’ve checked in, and now you’re about to be shown to your room. To prompt you to follow them they may say:

部屋までご案内いたします。こちらへどうぞ。
heya made go annai itashimasu. kochira e douzo.
I will now guide you to your room. This way Please.

The phrase こちらへどうそ (kochira he douzo) is a formal phrase, that is best suited to this kind of situation.

A quick breakdown:

こちら (kochira) means “this way” in Japanese.

へ (e) is a Japanese particle used to indicate a direction.

どうぞ (douzo) means “please” in Japanese and is often used in conjunction with Japanese Keigo, the highest level of honorifics.

Come Over Here

Come over here
こっちきて。
kocchi kite.

When you want to signal for someone to come to you casually in Japanese, you can use こっちきて (kocchi kite).

ね！こっちきて！
ne! kocchikite!
Hey! Come over here!

The main difference between this expression and ここに来て (koko ni kite) in entry #1, is the effect of the ここ (koko) and こっち (kocchi). Both mean “here” in Japanese, however, こっち (kocchi) is much more casual than ここ (koko).

This is because こっち (kocchi) comes from こちら (kochira), meaning “this way”, found in the こちらへどうぞ (kochira e douzo) expression above. It is an abbreviated version of こちら (kochira).

Being directly from こちら (kochira), we can also interpret こっち (kocchi) as a casual way of saying “this way” in Japanese. This means that こっちきて (kocchi kite) is quite literally “this way, come” in English.

Come Here and Study more!

Come here and study more!
ここに来て、もっと勉強をしよう！
koko ni kite, motto benkyou shiyou!

We’ve reached the end of this ultimate guide! I hope you found it useful.

For more How-To Japanese articles, check out the collection of Japanese language guides here.

Until next time! また来てね！