How to ask for the bill in Japanese?

How do you ask for the bill in Japanese?

Asking for the Bill

Japanese Phrase	Romaji	Meaning	Formality Level
お愛想	Oaiso	Please bring me the bill	Very Informal
お会計お願いします	Okaikei onegaishimasu	Please check out (the bill)	Polite

Splitting the Bill

Japanese Phrase	Romaji	Meaning	Formality Level
別々でお願いします	Betsubetsu de onegaishimasu	Separately, please	Polite
割り勘にしますか	Warikan ni shimasu ka	Shall we split the bill?	Casual
割り勘にしましょう	Warikan ni shimashou	Let’s split the bill	Casual
割り勘でいいですか	Warikan de ii desu ka	Is it okay to split the bill?	Polite
割り勘してくださいませんか	Warikan shite kudasaimasen ka	Would you please split the bill?	Very Polite/Formal

If you want to say you’d like the bill in Japanese, the safe bets/correct phrases are these two:

お会計お願いします。okaikei onegai shimasu.

お勘定お願いします。okanjō onegai shimasu.

They both mean “Please tally my bill.”*

But if saying “onegai shimasu” seems like a tongue twister, you can raise your hand a little bit or look around for your wait staff, give a little bow (just with your head) when your eyes meet, then make the writing on your hand gesture.

チェックお願いします。chekku onegai shimasu.
= “Please give me a check.”

This is appropriate for 洋食 (yōshoku) a.k.a. western style restaurants.

The phrase that seems cool but you shouldn’t use is:

おあいそお願いします。oaiso onegai shimasu.

[This bit is extra reading, so if you’re not into additional cultural knowledge that is almost useless, you could stop here.]

People (even Japanese people) use this “おあいそ” phrase, because as patrons they’ve heard sushi chefs etc. yell out “おあいそ！(oaiso)” when you ask them for a bill. Or you might be in Kyoto at a Japanese restaurant (料亭/ryōtei) and hear it uttered out by staff.

おあいそ comes from お 愛想 (o aiso/aisō). Having 愛想 (愛想がある/aisō ga aru) means congenial. If you lack 愛想 (愛想がない/aisō ga nai), it means you’re unfriendly. Furthermore, if you run out of 愛想 for someone/something (愛想をつかす/aisō o tsukasu), that means you gave up on the relationship.

Calling a bill “おあいそ” came about, because it was originally used by restaurant staff to apologize to patrons, “We are sorry to be lacking in お愛想 (congeniality) that we have to give you a bill.” (“お愛想がなくて申し訳ございません。”)

It has been also used by sushi chefs as a staff lingo, when they didn’t want to directly say “お勘定/okanjō” in front of their customers.

So meaning-wise, it would be weird for customers to say “おあいそお願いします。” It would be either “Give me friendliness”(?) or could be taken as “I’m sick of you.” Using it has become too commonplace, restaurant staff probably won’t mind. But if you go to a proper place in Kyoto, it’s best not to use the phrase.

There are words considered “隠語/ingo” = insider jargon/slang. Words like “おあいそ” or “あがり/agari” for tea are some of them. If you are a patron, it’s considered classier not to use them.

*I got a question about whether there’s a difference in nuance at all between 会計/勘定 and there is, a little bit, so if you are interested please refer to the comment. (You may have to click on “All” next to “Recommended” to see.)

Related Post:
Common Questions in Japanese
20 Basic Japanese Phrases