Hajimemashite, and the kanji that is clothes and a knife (初)

Hajimemashite (初めまして) is what you say when you meet someone for the first time. It’s the Japanese “nice to meet you”, and it opens almost every self-introduction. Word for word it says “for the first time”, made polite. The kanji inside it, 初 (hatsu, hajime), is a small picture of how things begin: 衤, clothes, and 刀, a knife. Before you can sew anything, you have to make the first cut.

What the kanji says

初 has two parts. On the left is 衤, the shape 衣 (koromo), clothing, takes when it sits on the left of a kanji. On the right is 刀, a knife or sword.

The video’s story is also the traditional explanation. The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, defines 初 as “the beginning” and explains its parts as knife and clothing: “the start of cutting out clothes”. Modern references read it the same way. Making a garment starts with cutting the cloth, so knife-on-cloth came to stand for the start of anything.

Watch the left side. 衤 has two small strokes at the bottom right. Its look-alike 礻, the altar radical in 礼 (rei) and 神 (kami), has only one. With the extra stroke it’s clothing, without it it’s an altar.

Where hajimemashite comes from

初めまして is 初めて (hajimete), “for the first time”, with the polite ending ます (masu) worked into it. The older, longer greeting was 初めてお目にかかります (hajimete ome ni kakarimasu), “I’m meeting you for the first time”. Cut down to just 初めて, it sounded too bare to be respectful, so speakers added ます, and 初めまして was born. That, at least, is how Japan’s biggest dictionary, the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, explains it. It’s a fairly young phrase: the dictionary’s earliest example is from 1873.

How to use it

• 初めまして。

  Hajimemashite.

  Nice to meet you.

• 初めまして、田中です。

  Hajimemashite, Tanaka desu.

  Nice to meet you. I'm Tanaka.

• 初めまして。どうぞよろしくお願いします。

  Hajimemashite. Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

  Nice to meet you. I hope we'll get on well.

• こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします。

  Kochira koso, yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

  Likewise. (the usual reply)

• 日本は初めてです。

  Nihon wa hajimete desu.

  This is my first time in Japan.

• Say it once. 初めまして is only for the very first meeting. Next time, use an ordinary greeting such as こんにちは.
• The usual pattern is 初めまして, then your name, then よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegai shimasu). The other person often answers with こちらこそ (kochira koso), “likewise”.
• Very formal settings have a grander version, お初にお目にかかります (ohatsu ni ome ni kakarimasu), “I am honoured to meet you for the first time”.
• Kanji or kana? Both 初めまして and はじめまして are normal. You’ll sometimes see 始めまして, and some dictionaries list it too, but 初めまして is the usual spelling: 始 is for starting an activity, 初 for a first time.

Words with the same kanji

Remember it

Lay out the cloth (衤), pick up the knife (刀), and make the first cut. Every new acquaintance starts the same way: 初めまして.

The kanji in this lesson

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Sources

• Wiktionary: 初 (character origin)
• CUHK Multi-function Chinese Character Database: 初
• Kotobank (Japanese dictionaries): 初めまして

Written by the Chirami team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict and KANJIDIC2. How we write lessons. Spotted a mistake? Email support@brightsmilesolutions.org.