Choosing keigo in a school visit
You are a Year 12 student hosting three visiting students from a sister school in Osaka for one day. Your Japanese teacher has asked you to give a short welcome speech in the school hall, then to chat informally with the visitors during lunch. You have drafted two versions of your opening line. Version A: 「皆さん、今日はようこそいらっしゃいました。私は山田と申します。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。」 Version B: 「みんな、来てくれてありがとう。山田だよ。よろしくね。」 Your teacher also reminds you that the visitors are the same age as you, and that one of them will give a reply speech afterwards. You must also introduce the school principal, who is standing beside you, before inviting the visitors to speak.
1. Which version is more appropriate for the hall speech, and why? Justify your choice by referring to the setting, the audience and the purpose.
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Version A is the appropriate choice. The setting is a formal school assembly with the principal present, the audience includes adults as well as peers, and the purpose is a public welcome on behalf of the school. In this context, いらっしゃいました (sonkeigo for 'came') honours the visitors, 申します (kenjōgo for 'am called') lowers the speaker, and お願いいたします is a humble closing formula. Version B uses casual plain-style forms (来てくれて, だよ, よろしくね) that suit a chat between friends but would sound too familiar in a hall speech in front of the principal. Choosing A does not mean you must stay formal all day; the same speaker can shift to B-style casual speech at lunch, because the relationship with the visitors is peer-to-peer and the setting becomes informal. The key judgement is that register follows the setting and the presence of a higher-status person, not simply the age of the addressee.
2. How should you introduce the principal and then invite the visitors to speak? Write the lines and explain the politeness decisions.
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A workable pair of lines is: 「まず、本校の校長先生をご紹介いたします。校長先生、よろしくお願いいたします。」 then 「それでは、大阪からの皆さん、ひと言お願いできますか。」 The first line uses ご紹介いたします, a humble form, because the action is yours toward the principal; the principal is referred to with 先生 and the respectful ご/お patterns. The second line uses お願いできますか rather than the blunt お願いします, softening the request to a guest. Note that you do not use sonkeigo for your own actions: ご紹介なさいます would wrongly elevate yourself. You also avoid ordering the visitors with an imperative; the question form gives them room to decline politely, which is expected etiquette. The sequence matters too: introduce the higher-status person first, then hand the floor to the guests, so the principal is not left standing without acknowledgement.