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I came across a learn-Japanese book from the 1980s and wanted to know what you
guys think. The book gave a general formula for introduction and here is how
it goes:

  1. Someone says their name with any combination of 「よろしくおねがいします」 and/or 「はじめまして」, and the standard response is to repeat what they said but put your _own name_ instead. For example

> キム ：はじめまして。よろしくおねがいします。キムです。  
>  あかみ：はじめまして。よろしくおねがいします。あかみです。

  2. The general response to 「はじめまして」 is 「よろしくおねがいします」

  3. The general response to 「よろしくおねがいします」 is 「こちらこそ。」

I was wondering how rigid these responses are? Are the responses below valid
or should I just default to the textbook response?

  1. Can I respond to 「はじめまして」 with 「こちらこそ。」? 

  2. Can I respond to 「よろしくおねがいします」 with 「よろしくおねがいします。」? 

  3. If someone says 「田中です。はじめまして。よろしくおねがいします」, can I respond with something like 「こちらこそです。」?
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2014-11-01T09:21:23.597
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question
expressions culture greetings
What are valid responses to the expressions 「はじめまして」 and 「よろしくおねがいします」 used in introductions?
こちらこそ is a response to よろしくおねがいします. People often say 「こちらこそよろしくお願いします」 for
this reason. I don't think we say 「こちらこそはじめまして」 probably because if the other
person hasn't met you before, it goes without saying that you haven't met that
person either.

```

    A: 田中です。はじめまして。よろしくおねがいします。
    B: こちらこそよろしくおねがいします。
    
```

This is acceptable, but also unnatural in terms of conversation because it's
kind of like:

```

    A: Hello, I'm Alice. Nice to meet you.
    B: Nice to meet you, too.
    A: (Um... so what's this person's name?)
    
```

So to answer your questions,

  1. Yes, you can, but replying with 「はじめまして」 might be better.
  2. It is totally okay to respond with that, but it would be even better to respond with 「こちらこそよろしくおねがいします」
  3. Yes, but you might want to mention your name also.
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answer
**1)** You are right. There are many combinations of よろしくおねがいします AND/OR
はじめまして. I think the standard template of introducing is:

> はじめまして。田中です。よろしくおねがいします。

If you just put your name instead of 田中 in your response, it will not be bad.
But you can change the template depending on the situation. If you meet a
person who has social status or age same as you (friend of your friend, for
example) you can skip はじめまして or よろしくおねがいします. Also you can say simply よろしく or
どうぞよろしく(hardly used) or よろしくね instead of よろしくおねがいします. It sounds friendly but
be careful and don't use it when you meet elder person.

You can use also といいます instead of です (only in case of introducing)

> [私は]田中です – I am Tanaka
>
> 私の名前は田中です – My name is Tanaka (hardly used but can be useful depending on
> situation)
>
> [私は]田中といいます – I am called Tanaka (very verbatim
> [![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xTgWS.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xTgWS.gif)
> but japanese often use it)

Note that 私は(わたしは) is skipped usually – no sense to say "I" when you are
talking about yourself (in japanese thinking)

**Meeting elder person**. If you want to be very polite in introducing, you
can use next variants

> でございます instead of です (hardly used but sounds very politely)
>
> ともうします instead of といいます
>
> よろしくおねがい **いた** します instead of よろしくおねがいします

Remember: you should use polite words throughout the sentence, not only one.

> はじめまして。田中ともうします。よろしくおねがいいたします。

**2)** You said " _The general response to はじめまして is よろしくおねがいします_ ". But it is
not quite so. My advice is - dont think rigidly. Use it appropriately to
situation.

What does mean はじめまして and よろしくおねがいします? はじめまして inherits from verb はじめる(begin,
start) and it is just greeting to person, who you meet first time. It probably
means something like "let's begin a friendship" (very verbatim again
[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZotJU.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZotJU.gif)  
(source: [kolobok.us](http://smiles.kolobok.us/standart/smile3.gif)) ).
よろしくおねがいします does not mean "nice to meet you", "i'm glad to meet you" or
somethink like this. おねがいします means request to do somethink like "please do it
for me" and よろしくおねがいします is just more polite request. I don't know what
japanese are requesting to person in first meeting (probably it is like
"please be a friend for me" or "I hope you will be kind to me". It's not more
than idiomatic expression) but it is often used in daily life. Example:

> A: Can you do it for me?
>
> B: Yes, I can
>
> A: Well, おねがいします
>
> (english-japanese mix
> [![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xTgWS.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xTgWS.gif))

3) You said _"The general response to よろしくおねがいします is こちらこそ"_. Yes, it sounds
good but needs some addition. こちらこそ sounds simply, so you had better respond
with full sentence こちらこそよろしくおねがいします if you want to be polite. Also you can put
いいえ before it (いいえ、こちらこそ[よろしくおねがいします]). Why いいえ? Try to remember The Matrix
scene where Neo meets Morpheus first time:

> Neo: It's an honor to meet you
>
> Morpheus: **No** , the honor is mine

(Note, that is not translation, only analogy).

こちらこそ is just emphasis to yourself and can be used in many situations. For
example, when some person helped you, and you helped that person, and when
he/she says "I'm grateful to you", you can respond "no, I am very grateful to
you" with using こちらこそ.

Here are a direct answers to your questions

**1)** " _Can I respond to はじめまして with こちらこそ?_ " No
[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/c3jNx.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/c3jNx.gif)  
(source: [kolobok.us](http://smiles.kolobok.us/standart/nea.gif)) respond to
はじめまして with はじめまして and add after that こちらこそ if companion said よろしく. Don't use
it when you talk first and don't say it if companion did not say よろしく.

**2)** " _Can I respond to よろしくおねがいします with よろしくおねがいします?_ " Yes, you can, but
こちらこそよろしくおねがいします sounds a little bit better.

**3)** "*If someone says 田中です。はじめまして。よろしくおねがいします、 can I respond with something
like こちらこそです?" It has been already answered above.

And finally I want to add some **wrong** examples

> You: はじめまして。田中です。こちらこそ
>
> Companion: mmm... What こちらこそ
> [![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L1LML.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L1LML.gif)

one more

> Companion: はじめまして。田中です。
>
> You: はじめまして。やまもとです。こちらこそ
>
> Companion: mmm... What こちらこそ
> [![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L1LML.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L1LML.gif)

So, as you can see, japanese is not rigid but very flexible (sometimes too
flexible to understand or remember all these
[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JSEk6.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JSEk6.gif)  
(source: [kolobok.us](http://smiles.kolobok.us/madhouse/wacko2.gif)) )

Good luck with your study. がんばって
[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/M4Yze.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/M4Yze.gif)  
(source: [kolobok.us](http://smiles.kolobok.us/standart/derisive.gif))
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answer