Japanese Greetings

Sayonara, and the phrase with no translation

Sayōnara carries a sense of parting for a long time. Japanese people rarely use it with colleagues or friends they will see tomorrow; schoolchildren say it to teachers, and it turns up when someone is genuinely going away.

For an ordinary goodbye, mata ne with friends and otsukaresama desu at work do almost all the work.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu is the one to learn properly. It roughly means please look after me, please treat this well, I look forward to working with you, and thank you in advance, all at once. It closes an introduction, opens an email, and follows any request. There is no English sentence that covers it, and leaving it out of a first meeting is noticeable.

Greetings come in pairs at home. Ittekimasu is answered with itterasshai, and tadaima with okaerinasai, every time.