Question
I am visiting Tokyo for business and have scheduled multiple meetings. I want to inform my Japanese colleague that I will be a bit late for our meeting due to transportation delays. How do I say “I will be late due to transportation issues” in Japanese?
Japango Editor Team
交通（こうつう）事情（じじょう）で遅（おく）れます。
Koutsuu jijou de okuremasu.
I will be late due to transportation issues.
When communicating in a professional setting, it’s important to inform your colleagues in advance if you anticipate being late.
“Koutsuu jijou” refers to transportation circumstances or issues, and “okuremasu” means “will be late”. This phrase can be helpful in explaining delays caused by traffic or public transport issues.
A polite way to say this in a business context is by adding a phrase like “すみませんが” (sumimasen ga) at the beginning, which means “I’m sorry, but…”, to express your apologies for the inconvenience.
