is it こんにちわ or こんにちは? | HiNative The correct way to write "hello" in Japanese is こんにちは (kon'nichiwa) The version こんにちわ (kon'nichiwa) is a common mistake because of the way the particle "は" (pronounced "wa" when used as a particle) is sometimes misinterpreted In Japanese, こんにちは is made up of two parts: "今" (kon), meaning "now," and "日" (nichi), meaning "day " So, it literally translates to