Konbini checkout Japanese: every question the clerk asks
Short answer
At a konbini checkout, the clerk asks a few quick yes/no questions (heat it up, chopsticks, a bag, how you’ll pay, the receipt), and 大丈夫です (“I’m fine without it”) is the everyday way to say no to any of them. You’re asked about the bag because shops have had to charge for plastic bags since 1 July 2020; each store sets its own price.
The situation
There’s a bento, a drink, one register and a queue behind you. The clerk will fire off a few quick questions: heat it up, chopsticks, a bag, how you’re paying, the receipt. Nobody expects a speech. Short answers are the real register here. The trick is that 大丈夫です means “no thanks”, and it does a lot of work.
The voice scene runs the whole checkout. You answer out loud, and the clerk replies in Japanese, by voice.
Key phrases
はい、お願いします。
Hai, onegai shimasu.
Yes, please. (heat it up)
Japanese / Romaji / English大丈夫です。
Daijōbu desu.
No thanks. (heating, a bag, the receipt…)
Japanese / Romaji / Englishお箸を一膳お願いします。
Ohashi o ichizen onegai shimasu.
One pair of chopsticks, please.
Japanese / Romaji / Englishエコバッグあります。
Eko baggu arimasu.
I’ve got my own bag.
Japanese / Romaji / English別々でお願いします。
Betsubetsu de onegai shimasu.
Separately, please. (hot and cold items)
Japanese / Romaji / EnglishPayPayで。 / カードで。 / 現金で。
PeiPei de. / Kādo de. / Genkin de.
With PayPay. / By card. / In cash.
Japanese / Romaji / Englishないです。
Nai desu.
I don’t have one. (point card)
Japanese / Romaji / Englishレシートください。
Reshīto kudasai.
The receipt, please.
Japanese / Romaji / EnglishSample exchange
A. A practice run, as the app’s voice scene plays it (English in italics is the in-app translation of each line):
店員 (clerk): いらっしゃいませー。 (Welcome!)
店員: こちら温めますか？ (Shall I heat this up?)
You: はい、お願いします。
店員: お箸おつけしますか？ (Would you like chopsticks?)
You: はい、一膳お願いします。
店員: 袋はご利用ですか？ (Do you need a bag?)
You: 大丈夫です。
店員: お会計、598円になります。お支払い方法はどうされますか？ (Here’s your total. How would you like to pay?)
You: 現金でお願いします。
店員: 402円のお返しです。レシートはご利用ですか？ (Here’s your 402 yen change. Do you need the receipt?)
You: 大丈夫です。
店員: ありがとうございましたー。 (Thank you very much!)
Tip: you only hear お返し (your change) when you pay cash. After card, PayPay or Suica, the clerk just asks レシートご利用ですか？
B. What you may hear at the register (from the app’s listening practice):
店員: いらっしゃいませー。お弁当温めますか？
客: あ、お願いします。
店員: お箸おつけしますか？
客: 一つください。
店員: 袋ご利用ですか？
客: 大丈夫です。
店員: 598円になります。
Q&A
Why does 大丈夫です mean “no”?
At the register, 大丈夫です means “I’m fine without it”. It’s the everyday way to turn down heating, a bag or the receipt. Even if the clerk asks 袋大丈夫ですか？, answering 大丈夫です still means no bag.
Do I have to pay for a bag?
For a plastic bag with handles, yes. Japan made charging for plastic shopping bags mandatory for retailers nationwide from 1 July 2020. Each store sets its own price, but a price under ¥1 per bag doesn’t count as charging. Paper bags, cloth bags and plastic bags at least 50 micrometres thick (or with at least 25% biomass content, or 100% marine-biodegradable plastic) are outside the rule. (Sources: METI, https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/recycle/plasticbag/plasticbag_top.html · METI/Ministry of the Environment guideline, https://www.env.go.jp/content/900537771.pdf)
How do I say how I’m paying?
Say the method and add で: 現金で (cash), カードで (card), PayPayで. If they ask about a point card and you don’t have one, ないです or 大丈夫です is fine.
Can I practise this before my next konbini run?
Yes. The “Konbini checkout” voice scene is level N5 and runs a full checkout. You speak, the clerk answers in Japanese, and short answers count. It isn’t a pronunciation test: the scene only checks that what you said was understood.
Official sources (checked 31 Oct 2026)
- METI, plastic shopping bag charging (from 1 July 2020): who it covers, exempt bags, store sets the price, under ¥1 doesn’t count. https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/recycle/plasticbag/plasticbag_top.html
- METI and Ministry of the Environment, guideline for charging for plastic shopping bags (Dec 2019): 2020-07-01 start, 50 μm / 25% biomass exemptions. https://www.env.go.jp/content/900537771.pdf
Practise the konbini register out loud
In the app: Speaking practice → Konbini checkout (level N5)
Open Konbini Legends → Speaking practice → Konbini checkout. Free on iPhone and iPad.
Konbini Legends is a real-time voice conversation app for foreigners living in Japan: you speak Japanese out loud and an AI conversation partner replies in Japanese by voice, in everyday scenes like the konbini, the ward office, a clinic, the bank and a phone shop.
