Conversational Japanese – 1 (At the pharmacy) Posted by keiko on Oct 30, 2014 in Culture, Grammar
I was just at the pharmacy the other day, looking for things, and thought about this topic. There are some unique vocabulary that are helpful to know when you go to pharmacy or drug store. I would like to start new series based on different type of shopping experience. This post is on useful Japanese dialog that can happen at any pharmacy/drug store! Read on!
Before I start, let me tell you the typical scenario you would expect at any store you might go into in Japan. When you walk into a store or a restaurant, this is the first thing you would hear from store personnel:
Irasshaimase (いらっしゃいませ)
This simply means, “welcome.”
You do not need to respond by saying anything, but you can just acknowledge the person by bowing. You don’t have to bow deeply, just light bow will do.
So, here are some of the vocabulary you can use at the pharmacy. Pharmacy is called Kusuriya – （薬屋、くすりや) or yakkyoku (薬局、やっきょく)in Japanese.
Kusuri – (薬、くすり) -medicine
Zutsu-yaku – (頭痛薬、ずつうやく)-aspirin
Shohousen – (処方箋、しょほうせん)-prescription
Itamidome – (痛み止め、いたみどめ) -pain killer
Bandeido – (バンドエイド) – BAND-AID
Bitamin zai – (ビタミン剤、ビタミンざい) – Vitamins
Kanpo-yaku – (漢方薬、かんぽうやく) – Herbal medicine
Kesho-hin – (化粧品、けしょうひん) – Cosmetics
These are the questions you might be asking at the pharmacy…
______________________________________________
Kono kusuri wa ikura desuka?
この 薬 は いくら ですか？（このくすりは、いくらですか？）
How much is this medicine?
______________________________________________
Zutsu-yaku wa dokoni arimasuka?
頭痛薬 は どこに ありますか？（ずつうやくは、どこにありますか？）
Where is the aspirin?
_______________________________________________
Kega o shiteshimaimashita.
怪我 を してしまいました。（けがをしてしまいました。）
I got hurt.
________________________________________________
Bitamin zai wa doko desuka?
ビタミン剤 は どこですか？（ビタミン剤はどこですか？）
Where can I find vitamins? (Where are the vitamins?)
________________________________________________
Mousukoshi yasui kusuri wa arimasuka?
もう少し 安い 薬 は ありますか？ （もうすこし、やすいくすりは ありますか？）
Do you have cheaper medicine?
__________________________________________________
Donna shurui no kanpo-yaku ga arimasuka?
どんな 種類の 漢方薬 が ありますか？（どんなしゅるいのかんぽうやくが ありますか？）
What kind of herbal medicines do you have?
____________________________________________________
Kesho-hin wa oite arimasuka?
化粧品 は 置いて ありますか？ （けしょうひん は おいてありますか？）
Do you carry any cosmetics? Do you have any cosmetics?
_____________________________________________________
In Japan, a typical pharmacy will carry popular herbal medicines; however, if you are looking for a specific one, it is better to find a pharmacy specialized in Kanpo-yaku (漢方薬、かんぽうやく), herbal medicine. There are many pharmacy that carry just the herbal medicines as herbal medicine are popular in Japan.
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About the Author: keiko
Born and raised in Japan. She currently lives in U.S. with her husband and two kids.
Comments:
Reia:
Great post!
One thing I think would be helpful for people to know, though, is that there are various kinds of pain killers (itamidome), so if you want aspirin, you should specify aspirin ( asupirin アスピリン). The most common brand of buffered aspirin is called Bufferin.
If you need ibuprofen, they should have that too (ibupurofen イブプロフェン)
Also worth noting is that pain killers in Japan may be different than the doses you are used to taking, so check how many milligrams per pill. 🙂
keiko:
@Reia Hi Reia,
You are absolutely right on this topic! We have many types of itamidome (痛み止め). Itamidome for teeth, stomachache, muscle pain, back pain, etc.. Knowing more vocabulary on body parts will be definitely helpful in that case. Thanks for pointing out the dosage info as well. Every medication is different! So, user needs to pay special attention to the usage dose. 🙂 Good luck on your learning Japanese!