Welcome to the phrase that breaks every learner's dictionary. よろしくお願いします is the most-used social formula in Japanese, and there is no English sentence you can swap in for it — not "nice to meet you," not "thank you," not "please." That is not a translation gap you can paper over; it is a sign that the phrase is doing something English does not do with words at all. This page — the first in the Expressions & Collocations group — teaches you to stop translating it and start deploying it, because that is exactly what a native speaker does.
Why no English equivalent exists
The reason is that よろしくお願いします is performative, not descriptive. It does not report a feeling or a fact; it performs an action — the way "I now pronounce you married," "cheers," or "I do" perform actions rather than describe them. Saying it creates a small bond of prospective goodwill between you and the other person: "from here on, I place myself in your favorable care." You cannot translate a handshake, and you cannot translate this. You perform it.
Literally, it decomposes into よろしく (the adverb from よろしい "good, favorable" — so "favorably, well") plus お願いします ("I make a request"). Roughly: "I ask that you treat me / this favorably." But no native speaker hears those parts any more than an English speaker hears "God be with you" inside "goodbye." It is one gesture, and its meaning is its social effect.
Its three core jobs
1. Closing a self-introduction. An introduction that stops at your name feels, to Japanese ears, like a door left half-open. よろしくお願いします is what shuts it warmly — "and now, let's get along."
はじめまして、田中と申します。どうぞよろしくお願いします。
hajimemashite, tanaka to mōshimasu. dōzo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu
Nice to meet you, I'm Tanaka. I look forward to working with you.
2. Making a request — "thanks in advance." Attach it to any favor and it becomes a forward-looking thank-you, softening the ask and pre-paying the gratitude.
ご確認、よろしくお願いします。
go-kakunin, yoroshiku o-negai shimasu
Please look this over — thanks. (asking someone to check something)
ご検討のほど、よろしくお願いいたします。
go-kentō no hodo, yoroshiku o-negai itashimasu
I would be grateful if you would consider it. (closing a business email)
3. Signing off / renewing a bond. It closes conversations, emails, and — famously — the year: at New Year everyone exchanges 今年もよろしく, re-upping the relationship for another twelve months.
じゃ、よろしく。
ja, yoroshiku
Alright — thanks, catch you later. (casual sign-off to a friend)
今年もよろしくお願いします。
kotoshi mo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu
Looking forward to another good year together. (said at New Year)
A fourth, quieter job: entrusting someone or something to another's care — often paired with お世話になります.
息子がお世話になります。どうぞよろしくお願いします。
musuko ga o-sewa ni narimasu. dōzo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu
My son will be in your care — thank you for looking after him.
The register ladder
The phrase stretches and contracts with the formality of the moment. Same gesture, dialed up or down:
| Register | Form | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Casual | よろしく／よろしくね／どうぞよろしく | friends, peers, texts |
| Standard polite | よろしくお願いします | the everyday default with anyone |
| Business / humble | よろしくお願いいたします | clients, superiors, work email |
| Formal written | 何卒よろしくお願い申し上げます | formal letters, notices, ceremony |
Readings: よろしく (yoroshiku), お願いします（おねがいします, o-negai shimasu), いたします (itashimasu), 何卒（なにとぞ, nanitozo), 申し上げます（もうしあげます, mōshiagemasu).
Two rungs worth hearing in context. The humble いたします is the workhorse of business Japanese:
今後ともよろしくお願いいたします。
kongo tomo yoroshiku o-negai itashimasu
I look forward to our continued relationship. (formal, e.g. ending a first business meeting)
And 何卒 (なにとぞ) is a formal, written-register "kindly / earnestly" that lifts the whole phrase into letter-writing territory — you say it in a printed notice, not across a table:
何卒よろしくお願い申し上げます。
nanitozo yoroshiku o-negai mōshiagemasu
We respectfully ask for your kind consideration. (formal written close)
どうぞ, by contrast, is the spoken softener — どうぞよろしく warms up a face-to-face introduction without the starch of 何卒. The 申し上げます at the top of the ladder is the humble verb "to say" (申す・申し上げる), which is why it reads as the most deferential rung.
Don't confuse it with よろしくお伝えください
One near neighbor trips people up. よろしくお伝えください does not mean "please do this favorably" — it means "please give my regards to (a third person)." The よろしく there is goodwill relayed through your listener to someone absent.
お母様によろしくお伝えください。
o-kāsama ni yoroshiku o-tsutae kudasai
Please give my regards to your mother.
So よろしくお願いします directs goodwill at the person in front of you; よろしくお伝えください routes it onward to someone else. Keep them apart.
Common mistakes
1. Omitting it — the cold-introduction error. English speakers finish a self-introduction at their name, because that is complete in English. In Japanese it lands as abrupt and slightly cold.
❌ はじめまして。田中です。
Feels truncated — a Japanese self-introduction is expected to close with よろしくお願いします.
✅ はじめまして。田中です。よろしくお願いします。
hajimemashite. tanaka desu. yoroshiku o-negai shimasu
Nice to meet you. I'm Tanaka. I look forward to getting to know you.
2. Using it as a backward-looking "thank you." It is forward-looking (thanks in advance / please going forward). To thank someone for what they already did, use ありがとうございました.
❌ 手伝ってくれて、よろしくお願いします。
Wrong direction — the help already happened; use ありがとうございました for past gratitude.
✅ 手伝ってくれて、ありがとうございました。
tetsudatte kurete, arigatō gozaimashita
Thank you for helping me.
3. Register mismatch — bare よろしく to a superior. To a client or boss, the clipped よろしく sounds too familiar; climb to いたします.
❌ では、よろしく。
Too casual for a superior in writing (e.g. an email to your department head) — use よろしくお願いいたします.
✅ それでは、よろしくお願いいたします。
soredewa, yoroshiku o-negai itashimasu
Well then, I look forward to it. (polite email close)
4. 何卒 in casual speech. 何卒 is written-formal; dropping it into a chat with a coworker sounds like you are reading from a legal notice.
❌ 明日の飲み会、何卒よろしくお願い申し上げます。
Absurdly over-formal for a drinking party — just よろしく or よろしくね.
✅ 明日の飲み会、よろしくね。
ashita no nomikai, yoroshiku ne
See you at tomorrow's drinks — looking forward to it!
Key takeaways
- よろしくお願いします is performative — it creates a bond of goodwill; it does not describe one, which is why English has no equivalent.
- It fills three main slots: closing a self-introduction, softening a request ("thanks in advance"), and signing off / renewing a bond (今年もよろしく).
- Register ladder: casual よろしく → standard よろしくお願いします → business よろしくお願いいたします → formal-written 何卒よろしくお願い申し上げます.
- どうぞ softens spoken use; 何卒 is written-formal only.
- It is forward-looking, not a past "thank you" (that is ありがとうございました), and it is distinct from よろしくお伝えください ("give my regards").
- Never omit it where Japanese expects it — a name-only introduction feels half-finished.
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