Buying Fruit at Ameyoko Market in Ueno — JLPT N5 Japanese Conversation

The situation

Yattan (ヤッタン) stops at a fruit stall in Ameyoko and haggles a little with the vendor (店の人), who is friendly and very loud.

Key expressions

• これ・それ・あれ — "this / that / that over there." これ is near you, それ is near the person you're talking to, あれ is far from you both. At a stall, point and say これ; the vendor will often answer with それ ("that thing you mean").
• 〜はいくらですか — "How much is ~?" いくら is the question word for price. これはいくらですか is the single most useful phrase for market shopping.
• 〜個 (こ) — the all-purpose counter for small, roundish things like fruit: 一個 (いっこ), 二個 (にこ), 三個 (さんこ). For loose counting the vendor also uses 一つ (ひとつ)、二つ (ふたつ)、三つ (みっつ).
• 〜をください — "~, please." Attach it to what you want: りんごを二個ください ("two apples, please"). It's built on the same polite ください you'll meet in the 〜てください request pattern.

About Ameyoko

Ameyoko (アメ横) is a packed street market running about 400 meters beside the Yamanote Line tracks between Ueno and Okachimachi. It grew out of the black market of the years just after World War II, and that scrappy energy survives in the shouting vendors, the fresh fish and fruit piled high, and — unusually for Japan — a real culture of bargaining and bulk deals. If a stall feels friendly, you can try 「ちょっとまけてくれる？」 ("Can you knock a bit off?"), but the one phrase to master first is 「これ、いくらですか」.