Okaeri Meaning in Japanese: Tadaima and Welcome Home

The door opens and the returning person says ただいま — tadaima. Someone inside answers おかえり — okaeri.

The pair is often translated as “I’m home” and “welcome home.” That captures the scene well, even though the individual words have wider grammatical histories.

The short answer

• The person returning says tadaima.
• The person receiving them says okaeri or the more polite okaerinasai.
• The exchange marks return to a shared place or group.

Tadaima

Tadaima is related to a phrase meaning “just now” or “at this moment.” As a return-home greeting, it functions as a set expression:

ただいま。 Tadaima. “I’m home.”

It does not require a full sentence such as “I have returned.” The people and doorway supply the meaning.

Someone can use it after a short errand or a long day. Tone may communicate energy, fatigue, relief, or simple routine.

Okaeri and okaerinasai

おかえり — okaeri acknowledges the return. おかえりなさい — okaerinasai is fuller and more polite.

おかえり。 Okaeri. “Welcome back.”

おかえりなさい。 Okaerinasai. “Welcome home/back.”

The shorter form is common among family and close companions. The longer form may sound warmer, more formal, or simply habitual depending on the household.

Beyond a permanent home

The exchange can occur wherever people understand a place as a shared base. Coworkers may say okaerinasai when someone returns from an outside appointment. A guest returning to a host family’s house may join the household routine. Online communities sometimes use the pair playfully when someone returns after an absence.

These extensions work because the social shape remains: departure, absence, and return to people who stayed.

When it does not fit

Do not use tadaima simply because you entered any building. Customers entering a store are not “returning home” to the staff. At a workplace where nobody uses the expression, announcing it can sound unusually domestic.

Similarly, okaeri assumes that the other person has returned to a relevant shared place or relationship. Ordinary konnichiwa may be better when meeting someone without that return frame.

A practical rule

Use tadaima when rejoining a shared home or base, and okaeri/okaerinasai to receive the returning person. The meaning lives in the pattern of leaving and coming back.

Read the departure half of the exchange in our guide to ittekimasu and itterasshai.

Source note

The routine household pairing follows the Japan Foundation’s Irodori learning materials. The discussion of workplaces and temporary homes treats them as context-dependent extensions, not universal rules.