Greetings

Osigoto wa nandesu ka. Well, lets just say businessman.

Everyday at the end of work I say good night to my fellow co-workers. The younger guys work outside by the door say Oyasumi nasai. But inside the building, were most of the older gentlemen say konbanw. I don't want to be rude. So I just follow with the same. Is it right for japan custom to say Good evening or Good night. I am just kind of confuse on this one.

I am confused with your situation. Do you tell them good night in English? Then perhaps they are trying to say the same thing in Japanese. "Oyasumi nasai" is something you say when you are about to go to sleep or retire to your room for the day and "konbanwa" is like night/evening version of hello. I would simply say "sayonara" when I go home after a long day of work. Sorry, if this is not your case.

Don Coley On,

I understand your situation perfectly (I think). The people inside the building do not know whether you are leaving for home or whether you are just passing by on your way back to work. So they say "konbanwa" which is the typical greeting you say after dark to people passing by.

The people outside the building assume you are going home, because obviously you have just left the building. So they say "oyasuminasai" which is the typical greeting you say to a person going home at night. I don't think these greetings have anything to do with being young or old.

Either way, I think it's safe to say that if the other party says "konbanwa" you say "konbanwa, and if the other party says "oyasuminasai" you say "oyasuminasai."

On a related note, I represent the generation who says "sayonara" in eveyday life. However, several years ago I discovered that the younger generation (say current 30s and younger) do not say "sayonara" unless you are leaving that person for good. Instead, they say "shitsurei shimasu" or, if you're good friends with each other, "jaane." I college student even once told me that if a girlfriend says "sayonara" when hanging up the phone, he would give it a second thought about what she may have meant.

with Japanese colleagues at the end of a working day before leaving home we used to saying to each other ''otsukare'' or ''otsukaresama''.

Thank you for refreshing my memory:) I used to say "otsukaresama deshita" or "osakini shitsurei shimasu" when I left the office for the day.