Question
I’m taking a local train in Japan and I’m not sure I’ll recognize the station I need to get off at. The announcements come fast and the kanji on the platform signs flash by quickly. I’d like to ask the person sitting next to me, or the conductor, to give me a heads-up. How do I say “Could you let me know when we reach (station name)?” in Japanese?
Answer by Professional Japanese Teacher
新宿駅（しんじゅくえき）に着（つ）いたら教（おし）えてもらえますか。
Shinjuku eki ni tsuitara oshiete moraemasuka.
Could you let me know when we reach Shinjuku Station?
Just swap in the station name you need. The structure is [Station name]駅（えき）に着（つ）いたら教（おし）えてもらえますか — literally “when we arrive at X Station, could I have you tell me?” The piece doing the work is tsuitara, the conditional form of tsukimasu (to arrive). It sets up the “when/once we get there” meaning.
Oshiete moraemasuka is a soft, polite way of asking a favor — more natural to strangers than oshiete kudasai, which can sound a touch demanding here. Moraemasuka literally means “could I receive,” so the whole phrase carries a sense of “would you do me the kindness of telling me.”
One tip: drop eki if the station name already contains it, like 東京駅（とうきょうえき）. Saying “Tokyo eki eki” is a common beginner slip. Also, a small お願（ねが）いします after the question makes it even friendlier.
