ところで

ところで is a conjunction meaning "by the way" or "incidentally." It is used to change the topic of a conversation, shifting from the current subject to something new or unrelated. It typically appears at the beginning of a sentence, after the speaker has finished one line of thought.

Changing the topic

ところで naturally introduces a new topic, much like "by the way" in English. It signals that the speaker is moving on to something different.

It often follows after the speaker wraps up a previous topic:

Usage notes

• ところで is used in both casual and polite speech.
• It does not express contrast or contradiction (unlike でも or しかし). It simply redirects the conversation.
• Because it changes the topic entirely, using ところで in the middle of a closely related discussion can feel abrupt. It works best when there is a natural pause or break in the conversation.
• Be careful not to confuse this conjunction with the grammar pattern V[た]ところで (meaning "even if one does ~, it won't matter"), which is a separate structure with a completely different meaning.