What's the Japanese Equivalent of 'What's Up'?

“What’s up?” is one of the most common greetings in English-speaking countries. If you translated it literally into Japanese, you’d get something like 「調子はどうよ？」(choushi wa dou yo? — “How’s it going?”).

But here’s the thing — Japanese people don’t really greet each other by asking “How are you doing?” in everyday conversation. And let’s be honest, even in English, “what’s up” is more of a casual greeting than a genuine question about someone’s well-being.

So what do Japanese people actually say? Something more like:

「おっす」 (ossu) — a casual, laid-back “hey” 「こんにちは」 (konnichiwa) — a standard “hello”

These feel much more natural as equivalents.

That said, Japanese does have a way to ask “how’s it going?” — people often say:

「最近どうよ」 (saikin dou yo — “How’ve things been lately?”) 「最近どう？」 (saikin dou? — same meaning, slightly softer)

Both work the same way — 「どうよ」has a bit more of a familiar, slightly playful edge, while 「どう？」is the more neutral, everyday version you can use with just about anyone you’re on casual terms with.

What’s interesting about this phrase is that it’s intentionally vague. It doesn’t specify what it’s asking about — work? love life? health? — and that ambiguity is the whole point. It leaves room for the other person to decide what they want to talk about. Think of it as a gentle nudge to get a conversation started.

It’s also a form of consideration — by not asking about anything specific, you avoid accidentally touching on a topic someone doesn’t want to discuss. It’s a distinctly Japanese way of communicating — fitting for a language where subjects and objects are routinely dropped.

Of course, depending on the situation, people do ask about specific things too — like 「仕事の調子はどう？」(shigoto no choushi wa dou? — “How’s work going?”).

In short: If “what’s up” is just a greeting, the closest Japanese equivalents are 「おっす」or 「こんにちは」. If you’re genuinely asking how someone’s been, the casual go-to is 「最近どうよ」or 「最近どう？」.