Question
I’m staying at a small business hotel in Osaka and the air conditioning in my room feels way too strong at night. I’d like to ask the front desk to adjust it, but I want to phrase it politely rather than just demanding they change it. How do I say “Could you turn the air conditioning down a bit?” in Japanese?
Answer by Professional Japanese Teacher
冷房（れいぼう）を少（すこ）し弱（よわ）くしてもらえますか。
Reibou o sukoshi yowaku shite moraemasu ka.
Could you turn the air conditioning down a bit?
冷房（れいぼう） reibou specifically means “air conditioning for cooling,” which is the word you want in summer. If you need the heater turned down in winter, swap it for 暖房（だんぼう） danbou. The general word エアコン eakon also works and is what most hotel staff will use in conversation.
少（すこ）し sukoshi means “a little,” and 弱（よわ）く yowaku is the adverb form of 弱（よわ）い yowai (weak) — together they ask for the setting to be made weaker. If you’d rather ask for it warmer, say 温度（おんど）を上（あ）げてもらえますか ondo o agete moraemasu ka, “could you raise the temperature?”
The ending してもらえますか shite moraemasu ka is a soft, polite request. It’s a step gentler than kudasai and works well with hotel staff, restaurant servers, or anyone you don’t know personally.
